Kurogane's Love
by LilyQuix
Summary: A new girl and wolf join the gang in their journey to find Sakura's e tells nothing about herself and even hides her face from the others until long after they first meet.Kurogane connects with her and becomes protective of her.
1. The Beginning of a New Story

**Revision 6/2014**

**Nakeitra**

I run.

That's all I could ever do when it comes to Benji, The Prince of my homeland. Even if I wasn't a slave and my family didn't owe everything to The King…I still can't do anything against him but run. It doesn't matter that his hands are stained red with my people's blood or that he now has an actually weapon to kill with, he's always been scary. There's something about him not right about him. I knew this…so why am I surprised that he killed his own father, my brother, and my people…

"I hear you little mousey. Why don't you stop running? You're the only one left alive," Benji calls in a crazed voice. It echoes off the stone halls and my chest tightens more. There has to be someone, anyone, alive here.

A shadow spills out on the ground in front of me. My hand flew to the dagger to my waist and I take a step back. My hand relaxes and I breathe a sigh of relief. It's Catherine, the white mage. She's not one of my people, but she's always been nice and treated us like people unlike the other white men (except for The King). Another figure steps out and I see the wolf I bonded with, Nero. My heart stops. Why is he here? Shouldn't he be safe with his pack in the plains? My breath comes fast. I can't be responsible for more deaths….I can't let him die like everyone else!

"You have to leave. Now! You need to find The Witch Marina again and stop that man from destroying your village," She said hurriedly and pulled my wrist into the shadows where she came from. I stared at the swirling blue portal already finished on the wall. She pushed my bag into my chest and I stumbled to grip I properly. Marina? I have…to go back to her? Nero brushed up beside me but I couldn't move. I can't go back to Marina…I just can't. Tears welled up in my eyes. I can't go back without Hiro.

"Hurry! No one else that can make this journey but you. Go, please. If not for your people, then for your brother who just died to save you," She pleaded desperately. I can't see her behind me, but I know how she must look. I remember how panicked she was last time.

She was right though. The Prince is holding a weapon we thought was locked up…maybe it was and he just found it. I need to find the witch who has no rules to follow and no morals to guide off. Sadly, I need Marina.

I nod my head and step forward through the portal. I feel Nero briefly following me, and then my body tingles with coldness. I closed my eyes and breathed out right before we smashed into the ground. I scrambled to my knees and look up. The courtyard is littered with snow and the sky is the same dreary grey that it was last time I was here.

"What is it you wish for?" The Dimensional Witch asks. Her eyes widen for a second but she doesn't smile. "It is strange to see you back here again," She remarks and smiles slightly.

"I wish the same as my brother did once before. I wish the means to find The Witch Marina," I respond. Hiro and me…we traveled together to find Marina. A mage had taken over our country and throne. He imposed high taxes and gave little food to anyone who wasn't a noble. It was very devastating considering ninety percent of the population were slaves. Storekeepers couldn't sell anything. Farmers and their families, who were usually rich with food, were starving, because their harvest was being stolen each week. No one had any money or food and no one could escape the country because of a barrier. It was a bad time, but Hiro saved them while I just tagged along…now there was only me.

"Very well then, but you must give up what you most desire first though…The locket around your neck will do," She said holding out her hand. I reach around my neck and try to be brave. My hands are shaking with the catch. There's no arguing with her…even if this locket was a present from my brother and is the only thing I still have left that's precious to me. The locket floated from my hands and into hers.

"Good, now I have nothing to grant you with the power you seek, but there are others that do at the moment. Your wish is one in the same with all of theirs, so I will send you to them," She said. She picked up something that looked like a black rabbit with a blue jewel in the middle of its forehead, and held it out in front of me. It opened its mouth, and soon it sucked me and Nero in. The next thing we knew we were thrown out and slammed into something hard which we soon found out it was a brick wall. As soon as I was able, my hood was up and my hand rested on my knife. I've dealt with racism before just like I've learned that neither of the witches cares how we suffer along our ways.

The group stared at them as they pulled themselves away from the hard brick they had just slammed into. The one was girl that was short at 5' 2'' and wore a plain black dress. Her tattered bag fell to the ground as she pulled out her her knife on them. The rust colored wolf beside her shock out its coat and growled at nothing in particular, but was soon alert with teeth bared at the group. Neither moved.

"It's Yoko," Mokona told everyone and true enough, Yoko was now a holograph on the wall to the right of the two newcomers. Everyone turned to look at her.

"I have sent someone to join your team. Play nice and don't kill each other now," Yoko said quickly. Kurogane looked like he wanted to shout something back, but he could see Yoko was already gone.

All four of them looked back at the two strange ones who had just arrived. The woman wore a tall, long-sleeved black dress that almost touched the ground and covered her hands completely with its long sleeves. A hood covered her face in shadows completely as she kept her face low under the narrow hood. The wolf was a rust color with ripples fading along its back. Its paws though were a jet black which was usually unheard of.

"Why hello there! I'm Fai," Fai said happily running up to the new person, "And welcome to our group." The person took a step back, hitting the wall, and her hand tightened on the hilt of the dagger. Her hand was amazingly steady. Fai stopped just out of her range.

"We're not going to hurt you, I'm Syaoran," Syaoran said trying to calm the person down. Kurogane put his hand in the hilt of his sword and pulled Fai back a step. The woman relaxed a little.

"I am Nakietra and he is Nero," The person responded in a sort of rough accent. Sakura stepped forward toward her despite Syaoran trying to keep her back.

"I'm Sakura. Please, we really aren't going to hurt you. We're supposed to work together," She said softly. The woman's hand faltered and lower slightly. Sakura took it as a sign of peace and walked forward until she rested her hands over Nakietra's one that was holding the dagger up. Her hand relaxed even more.

"What is the one in black called?" Nakietra asked softly as she looked up. They could just barely see her lips now.

"I'm Kurogane," He answered and looked away like he was ashamed that he was ever worried she would do something.

"Maybe we should go talk somewhere a little more private," Syaoran suggested. Right now they were on a sidewalk at night and it was very busy. They had been trying to get a sense of the feather which had disappeared earlier, but they were having no luck. People were stopping around them and whispering.

Nakietra nodded her head and sheathed her dagger. Her hand never fully left it though as the group discussed among themselves what they should do. Nakietra and Nero stayed at the back, and close together, while everyone else stayed in a clump a few feet ahead.

Once back at the Mayor's house, which was the person they were staying with here, they went to one of the bedrooms and locked the door. Fia and Syaoran sat on the floor with their backs resting against one of the beds, Sakura sat with her knees drawn up on said bed, Kurogane and Mokona on the floor near the door, and Nakietra and Nero on the opposite bed. Nakietra's legs were folded up tightly and Nero lay against those legs with his eyes watching everyone at once.

"So why did the Witch send you to travel with us?" Fia asked first very seriously. Nakietra's eyes glistened as she stared at him.

"I need to find someone named Marina…The Witch said that our wishes were one in the same. What are yours?" Nakietra asked. She still wore her hood as her fingers curled in an out of his fur. His piercing golden eyes moved to Kurogane who seemed the biggest threat.

"Hm…my wish was to travel, and never return to my world," Fia responded easily.

"Mine is the opposite. I want to return to my world," Kurogane answered staring back at the wolf.

"I want to collect Sakura's feathers. And that's what we've all been doing from world to world. You don't have to help us, but…" Syaoran said.

"Mokona won't leave without Sakura's feathers," Mokona said strongly. Nakietra cocked her head and stared at him.

"We may only move on when the feathers in a world are collected…it would be to my benefit to help you if I wanted to find Marina then. That's what you mean," Nakietra slowly said. Syaoran nodded his head. She shrugged and scratched Nero's ears.

"We will help you then if you would like," She said.

"Thank you," Syaoran breathed. Retrieving the feathers has become increasingly harder as they pass through each world. More often than not, they need to ask for outside help.

"What kind of world do you come from?" Fai asked with a smile.

"What makes you think I will say anything about myself at all?" Nakietra said hostilely, "I will say this; I like to be left alone. I will help you out if you help me. I need to find Marina, there's no time for me to waste," She said calmer and softer like she was sorry for being mean. Nero growled and barked quietly.

Kurogane got up and said, " As long as you don't hurt us, we won't hurt you. I'm going to bed." He left the room without another word.

"Well now, I think we should figure out where you're going to sleep for the night then. I'll go ask the Mayor if he has anymore beds," Fia said getting up to avoid the awkward silence that was settling in.

"I'm fine with sleeping on the floor," Nakietra said quickly before he left. After the two had gone, Nero relaxed and closed his eyes. Nakietra brought a hand to her face and rubbed her forehead tiredly.

"Why do you need to find this Marina?" Syaoran asked.

"I need her to do something for me," Nakietra answered tiredly.

"What do you need for her to do?" Sakura asked innocently.

"I need her to save my home," Nakietra answered annoyed. The other two left it alone now and back off. She sniffled. She was starting to come to terms with what happened earlier…how her brother and everyone in the palace had been killed.

"Um…pardon me for asking, but why do you wear a hood?" Sakura asked meekly.

"My face was burned a long time ago. I wish not to scare you with my appearance," Nakietra said softly in a controlled voice. She used her sleeve to catch the tears that fell.

"I won't be scared. I would like to see your face myself before judging," Syaoran said. Nakietra shook her head no.

"I refuse," Nakietra said softly, "Especially since there is a young woman present." They all sat in silence after hearing the strangeness of the answer. Normally she would show her face, but she didn't want them to see her tears.

That night, Nakietra did sleep on the floor with Nero beside her as well as every night after that. She never took a bed, even when she was injured. She always took care of her own injures and sometimes the others, but no one was ever allowed to touch her. She didn't want to be touched, because every touch meant that there was someone else getting closer to. Another person she would have to let go eventually or might die for her like everyone else. She couldn't help herself drawing closer to them though. She couldn't stop herself from learning their pasts, and she could stop herself from showing her face.


	2. Nakietra's Brother

**Revision 6/8/2014**

**A Month Later**

Five feet above the paved sidewalk, the portal opened. There was no one around at this time since it was a little after lunch when most people were working. All the cars in the sky were flying easily with glowing blue pads underneath them to keep them afloat.

First fell Nakietra, landing in crouch but then was knocked onto her stomach when Kurogane knocked into her with his back hitting her back. Nero was next, landing just next to Nakietra on all four paws just to be knocked down when Fai happily crashed onto him and then Sakura on top of the man. Syaoran was always last, always managing to land on Kurogane and Mokona always made a plan to land safely in Sakura's arms. Recently their trips have been rocky and very bumpy both during the trip as well as the landings.

Nero growled as he tried to wiggle out from underneath the two people on top of him. Sakura scrambled up but Fai took his time as he goofed around, managing to kick Kurogane twice in the face somehow. Nakietra also growled next to him as she tried to pull herself out. It never worked but she always had to try because, unlike Nero, this situation angered her more than just causing a slight annoyance.

"Get off of me!" She yelled finally when Syaoran didn't more. Finally he stared to move and then Kurogane was gone. At first, he used to offer her a hand, now he knows better as she picked herself off the ground and brushed off her ever present black dress.

"Once again we have safely landed in a new world." Mokona said happily in Sakura's arms after everyone was on their feet. Nero jumped on his two hind legs and nipped him from Sakura's arms. Nakietra glared at him and then marched over to grab him by his tall white ears.

"That is not safely! Me and Nero could have been hurt!" She yelled for not the first time. This time was different though; this time she looked like she might hurt the talking marshmallow. Nero growled at Mokona as he bushed next to his bond. "I think you should experience what it feels like to get squashed," Nakietra said and started squishing him between her two palms.

"WAH! Nake and Nero are hurting me!" Mokona yelled and Fai jumped to the rescue and easily saved him because of his height.

"Mokona can't help it that you always wind up on the bottom. Don't blame him," Fai cooed hugging Mokona closely to his face.

Nakietra gave up after glaring for a few seconds and then looked around and hugged her shoulders. Kurogane and Syaoran could notice form that stance that they knew she didn't think something was right here.

**Nakeitra**

I feel like I've been here before. These buildings all have a circle shape, the cars have those blue discs on the bottom, and the ground is…rubbery I guess. It's not exactly stiff or made of any normal materials. I turn around then and slowly watch as a huge limo-like black car lands in front of us. This can only be one person…

"Nakietra is that you?" Tomoyo yelled as she fought to get out of the car. Her dozens of body guards were trying to prevent it though as they encircled us. I didn't even try to watch all of them because I knew they wouldn't hurt me as long as Tomoyo kept yelling my name.

"Yes," I answer as a sigh. It wasn't that I didn't like Tomoyo….she's just very hyper. She was a good person though and that's why I let her hug me. I inhaled sharply. I missed being hugged and touched in general.

"I knew you would come back! I told you so! So where's Hiro?" She asked me releasing me from her grip with a huge smile on her face. All the breath left my lungs and I felt like my heart stopped. We've been traveling so much and at such a rapid pace that I barely thought about my brother. I see him only in my nightmares. It's hard to sleep most nights because all I see recently is Benji.

I should be used to the fact that he's dead now, but it's hard when every world I go to has something similar to another one I've been to before. Tomoyo took a step back, her face frowned in confusion. She never expected us to be apart. Neither did I.

"He's gone," I mutter. It's obvious he isn't here and that something happened, but I feel like I have to say something to her. I know I can't say the "d" word without breaking completely down.

"Gone where? And why are you wearing a hood? What's happened?" She asked worriedly. "Your face is so beautiful though," She said after I slapped her reaching hand away. I like my face being hidden now because that means that no one has to see my tears. It's hard to hide them when I feel like I'm crying in every world we visit.

"Bad things have happened," I say in a small voice. I clench my teeth as my mind remembers running through the halls. Nero steps in front of me as if to protect me from the memories Tomoyo was brining up. He always knew what I was feeling through our bond just as I knew what he was feeling. My emotions were always stronger though.

"Nakietra" She said softly as he face pinched into sadness. She took a deep breath and composed herself then. "Who are your friends?" She asked and smiled to them. I turned back to look at their faces while they tried to piece me together. They were always trying to do that every time I did anything new. They introduced themselves and I rubbed my hands into Nero's thick coat to make me feel a little better.

"I invite all of you to stay in my apartment with me until it's time for you to leave this world," She said clapping her hands together happily. Everyone decided it was a good idea I think because they started to pile into the car. I was blocking them out again like I usually did when I felt like this. It was harder to do when all their voices were contained in one little place.

Her apartment was huge I remember and spanned the top four floors of her company building. She was in charge of entertainment for most of the world and produced many movies, TV shows, as well as music albums. She did it all I remember and lived very well because of it. Tomoyo gave us the very top floor, a different one from the one me and Hiro stayed on, and then left because she was being called down for a meeting. Syaoran talked to her as she walked out, mentioning the feather, while Sakura and Nero followed him. Nero told me soon after that they were going down to the streets to look for clues with Mokona who had also disappeared with them. I hadn't even noticed he was gone.

I curled up on the floor at the short side of the rectangular coffee table. I drew my knees up and closed my eyes. Nero has been staying more around Sakura recently than me. I wasn't jealous, but I was worried. He knows she's not the noble doctor's daughter that he used to give rides to on his puppy back. I think he knows this at least. I understand how hard it is to tell them apart sometimes even though this Sakura is older.

Kurogane sat on the couch to my right, resting his eyes with his feet propped up. Fai was on the couch to my left, relaxing with a smile on his face. I could feel him staring at me like usual and tried to block it out. I hate being stared at but I feel if I tell him that at any point that he'll just do it more to annoy me.

"May I ask who Hiro is?" Fai asked suddenly. I felt like I had just fallen backwards and had the breath knocked out of me. I never had to come to terms with my brother's death. I inched my cheeks down to my eyes were level with my knees. I don't want to talk about this.

"Do not ask about someone you will never meet," I say harshly, and stare straight ahead.

"Hm…I still want to know. Who's Hiro?" Fia asked again. I dig my fingernails into my arms. I haven't heard his name being said since that day he was killed. It's been a long time since anyone has butchered his name like this anyways. It's pronounced He-oh, not Here-o like Tomoyo likes to say. She physically can't pronounced Hiro's name right anyways so I never blamed.

I glare up at him. I was so close to crying as I remembered how his blood soaked into the stone and the way Benji tore at his dead body in frustration. Memories of my brother surfaced from where I had buried them too. I wanted them to go away because I knew that I couldn't break down here. I can't let myself remember right now. I dug my nails higher into my arms as the pain started to drift away.

"Oi, she doesn't want to talk about it. Leave it alone." Kurogane said in my defense. He's the only one here who respects me enough to leave me alone about the past.

"But I want to know!" Fia whined like a child. I clenched my teeth. I only ever whined with my brother because no one else would take it I knew. "Tell me how Tomoyo knows you? Maybe Hiro was your boyfriend who she tried to steal away from," Fai asked and got up from his place so he could bend down in front of me. My nails broke through the skin, and my arms started to bleed. "Please tell me! Pretty please!" Fai pleaded with that dumb grin on his face and his hands pressed together. I felt like I couldn't breathe. It was too much to remember and the idea of Hiro not being my brother sickened me.

I punched him in the face. He stumbled backwards and I stepped up and punched him again and he fell back onto the coffee table which didn't break because I knew if was the bullet proof glass made for Tomoyo's safety.

"Ow, that hurt." I heard him say sarcastically. I reached down, ready to choke him, but then I was stopped by an arm around my chest. It was Kurogane. My hood was ascue and I could see more light than usual. I tried to fix it but I couldn't reach. Tears rolled down my check and I bit down hard on my tongue.

Fia sat up on the table and looked up at me. I never let anyone look up at me in the light because I knew they could see my face perfectly. He was rubbing his cheek and smiling, but then he stopped. I can't stop my tears but I can stop my screams. My people wailed with grief, we were always very open with it. I can't express it here while these people are around me.

I slip under Kurogane's arm and dart away as he tries to catch me. I slid through one of the open bedrooms and slam the door closed before locking it. I put a hand over my mouth and bite into my palm as I slide onto the ground. I keep remembering Hiro just before he died; brave, sturdy, and strong…and then I remembered the fear in his eyes as he died. I don't want to remember, but I do. I let my memories consume me until I feel like nothing.

"Nakeitra, dinner is ready." Sakura's little voice came opposite of the door hours later. I heard them come back an hour ago; I hoped they would leave me alone, but that wasn't going to happen. My emotions had taken so much out of me that I just wanted to sleep, but I knew I would just have another nightmare.

Sakura is wearing a pale blue, long-sleeved, knee-length dress when I open the door. She smiles unsurely at me and steps back.

"You look beautiful," I say and head past her. I'm not in the mood to try and make myself feel better about letting my Sakura die.

"Thank you. Dinner is on the table," She says and walks behind me. The couches have been spread out and a dining table has been extended to allow all of us. Everyone is already sitting down with only two seats left. I take the one between Syaoran and Kurogane because I know that was the one for me. Fai's cheek is red and swollen. I'm not sorry for punching him. Nero curled up under my chair, dragging my bag with him. I rub his head and slowly start to eat the stir-fry looking dish. I'm not hungry though.

"Nakietra," Fai says at some point. I look at him but I regret it when I see his stupid grin.

"I just want to say I'm sorry for how I acted. I should have respected your privacy more." Fai said sincerely though. I thought carefully about my response as I swallowed hard.

"Just because you are sorry, doesn't mean I am. You deserved it." I responded and looked down again.

"I know," He said. Everyone continued to eat through this. Syaoran started talking then about his information about the feather. The signal is weak, but there a concert tomorrow with a band that uses the symbol of Sakura's feather as they're own. I faint pain grows in my chest and my lungs feel heavy. I don't remember when I last took my medicine. I carefully dig in my bag and take it while everyone is focused on their food.

I'm dying. From the day I was born, I was told that I was going to die long before I reached the age of ten. I'm sixteen now, but my illness is still just as incurable. It randomly born into babies in my world. Most die within a few day, sometimes they live til five or six. I've never heard of anyone living as long as me, but my medicine was special of course. It was a recipe made by my mother to stop my body from destroying itself and make it stronger. I'm amazed I've lived this long.

I finished eating first and took my plate to the kitchen. I was done listening to them talk for the moment. I rinsed off my late and went to bed with Nero curled up over my head.

Nightmares controlled me again. I saw the genocide of the palace this time, and my departure kept playing over and over again with different endings inserting themselves. I saw myself running from my family, whose bodies were hurt and bloody. I saw skeletons begging me to join them in death as they clawed up from the stone floors. I watched as the dead dragged themselves across the ground with blank faces.

I kept running every time. I never stopped in my dreams. I don't fear death, but I fear everyone else's. I grew up knowing I was going to die before everyone else, but I hate the thought of everyone else dying because of me. In my dreams, I was aware that I needed to survive so I could save them. I promised my brother when I was little that I would keep the city safe when he was off to war. I planned to keep that promise.

My eyes shot open and I stared at the dark ceiling. The need to find Marina was stronger than ever. She will save my people again because she can. Unlike the Dimensional Witch, Marina doesn't need to research whether she's disrupting the timeline. Marina only needs to do whatever she wants because she doesn't have any rules guarding her.

I slowly slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb Nero. He deserved to sleep after all the emotional memories he's had to deal with recently. I pull my discarded dress over my head and comb through it before tying it back into a braid curled into a ball on top of my head.

I tip toed out of my room. The other two rooms were closed as I closed my own. I wanted to talk to Tomoyo without them knowing. She always used to make me feel better when I was feeling this emotional. I couldn't always talk to Hiro about them when we travels because I knew that even a patient man like him had only so much mental capacity to listen to me.

I slowly opened the door and there she was. Tomoyo was dressed in a pale yellow dress with her fish poised to knock on the door. She pulled her hand down sharply to her side and smiled. I wish I could smile right now…

"Hello Nakietra. I was just looking for you," She said with a smile while she pushed herself inside to talk. I'd rather talk outside, but Tomoyo always preferred to be somewhere familiar. She continued to talk nonsense and then apologized about leaving yesterday. I took a seat on one of the couches and she took the one across from me. I faced the bedroom doors.

"Where's Hiro? I thought you two were traveling together," She asked quietly as she slowed her speech. I looked up at her and felt utterly destroyed but I forced myself to talk.

Kurogane was always awake it seemed. He was usually the last person to fall asleep and was easily the first one awake with the exception of Nakietra. Sometimes he wondered if she slept at all most nights. When he went to sleep she was sitting by the fire and when he woke up she was still in her seat like she hadn't moved.

Fai moaned and shifted around. Kurogane soundless got up from his bed and shook his head. Somehow he was always forced to share a room with Fai somehow. He never understood why the girls could never share a room or why Syaoran and Fai couldn't take turns sharing a room with Sakura. He understood that Nakietra liked her privacy, but he also would like his solitude once in a while. Fai was always disturbing that.

He rubbed his hand and placed his hand on the doorknob. He stopped. There were voices in the living room. One was clearly Tomoyo and the other sounded like Nakietra. He released the doorknob and leaned against the wall next to the door. It would be rude to interrupt their conversation now. Besides, even if he respected her privacy, it would be a lie to say he wasn't as curious about Nakietra as the others. His curiosity was out of suspicion though. He felt that there was something important she wasn't telling them. Something that could get them killed.

**Nakietra**

"We found Marina and paid her with the sword you gave us…she saved our people," I say my voice almost breaking in a few places. I pause. "It's worse this time…so many died," I said and closed my eyes. I didn't want to say anything else now.

"…So that's why you are traveling with them. Something else happened in your home…but that still doesn't explain why can't Hiro isn't with you? You said its worse this time, but how? He wouldn't let you just walk into danger. I know he wouldn't," Tomoyo pleaded. I put my head in my hands. She loved Hiro, just like everyone else. Only Benji hated Hiro…

"Everyone's dead now…the prince killed them all…I'm all that's left from the palace," I answer in a breathless voice. I feel like I'm drowning but it's different from when I feel the effects of my disease. It's worse. I don't want to talk about this because, already, I feel my heart breaking when I think of all my people dead on the floor.

"I'm so sorry….So Hiro's…I didn't get to see him again," She said sadly. I could see her picturing the deaths. I looked up from where I had been staring at my hands, which was a bad habit I've picked up on since I was a child, and saw her sad eyes look down at my hands. Recently I've been biting my palms though so I couldn't cry out. There are marks all over my hands now.

I don't know what to say to her. How can I tell her it's all going to be alright when I don't even believe it? He was my brother. He taught me everything I know in life and now he's gone. Because of him I can draw almost anything, I can fight with a sword, I can run, I know how to live, and read, and write, and also to ride a horse. Slaves were never taught these things, let alone women. Our own mother never learned any of these things as far as I knew; neither did our father or the rest of our family.

He had asked to become a knight of The King so I could life. He learned all these things in order to survive and was being sent to fights wars all the time. Even among the white men he was considered unstoppable. My brother had survived the impossible so that I could live. What more could I have ever asked for in life?

"I'm so sorry," Tomoyo said rubbing her eyes even though she didn't cry at all yet like me, "I should get to work. I'll try to come by later." She got u hurriedly and left. I just sat there, staring off into space. I miss my brother so much…I wonder if I'll ever stop seeing these nightmares…

A door opened and my eyes focused on Kurogane. He's always so quiet…like me. He walked out and slowly toward where the kitchen was. He nodded his head toward me but I didn't return it. I usually like the quiet but not now. I don't want to think right now.

I get to my feet and rub my eyes. I should go out and find something for Nero to eat. He shouldn't be eating the same food we eat if we hope to save our home before Benji destroys it.


	3. Nakietra Slaps All the Boys

**Revision 6/19/14**

**Nakietra**

I barely remember the day. I know me and Nero sat on the balcony, watching the cars go by. I did a little sketching of the clouds in the sky but my heart wasn't in it. Hiro was on my mind though and I couldn't stop thinking of all the time I spent with him and Toya. I cried when I thought about never seeing Toya again.

After dinner, Syaoran said we had to go to this concert because the feather might be there. We all went with then. Me and Nero only went because we couldn't stand to be inside anymore. The idea of never seeing his pack again depressed Nero much more than me not seeing Toya. He was the only one who probably missed me considering my aunt and her family hated me. I brought my knife just in case something happened like usual. Syaoran always manages to make it dangerous for us.

People were already seated and waiting in the square when we arrived. Some were sitting in foldable chairs or on blankets on the ground. Other's stood around or sat on the walls surrounding the area. I rubbed my shoulders briskly. It was sort of cold. It must be a different season than when I was last here. Fia, Sakura, and Monkona moved closer to the front. I kept as far back as I could along with Kurogane. Syaoran went off to the right to get a better view. I don't want to be near people right now, but Kurogane is tolerable. He actually respects my boundaries unlike the others. I took a seat on the ground and Nero followed. Sakura tries very hard for me. I put a hand over my heart and try to remind myself that she isn't my Sakura.

The band introduced themselves as the "Wishing Birds". That was the reason for the feather being their symbol at least. The lead singer wore a headband with the feather symbol on it and the drummer had the same symbol on his drum. I watched them more, four young and strong men. One of them had to know something, but we wouldn't be able to ask until after the concert. I would let Syaoran and Sakura do the asking anyways.

They went through four songs that were all about love it seemed. I put my head down on Nero's flank. I was never given the chance to find love. I blocked them out, but the memories still all over my mind were worse. The talked a little bit then in the middle, I couldn't hear anything they said from back here over the cheering, and then they started playing. My head shot up just as did Nero's did. This was a song from my homeland. I was sure of it.

_**On the other side of time, there is a city of wind**_

_**Come on, Take me with you**_

_**Make the white flower's dream come true**_

_**Take my hand with your sweet fingers**_

_**Come on, I want to be guided down the long road to your side**_

_**An unending song in the early afternoon**_

_**The two awaken and become one**_

_**Knowing the meaning of happiness for the first time**_

_**Take me with you**_

_**An unending say in the early afternoon**_

_**The two awaken and become one**_

_**Knowing the meaning of happiness for the first time**_

_**Take me with you**_

_**The other side of unseen dreams**_

_**Come. On the two of us can take that long road**_

_**To the city of wind**_

This was a song sung at marriages, usually by the bride. I close my eyes and replace the man's voice with Ira's deep one. Her's was the only marriage I watched because it was to my brother. Tears leaked from my eyes and I hid my face behind a hand. She never liked me very much, but she always made my brother smile so I never said anything to her. I loved the way Hiro would smile.

Nero pressed his head up against mine. I grip it around my arm and silently sign along with the words that I know he wants to hear. His people hold mating ceremonies and we sing for them too. They are like us, torn from their homeland by the white men. Tears slide down my face.

Will I make it to The City of Wind by my birthright? There's no one to guide me as far as I know…The City of Wind, the place the ancestors came from and the land where we lived with the wolves. Our children were raised alongside wolf pups and grew up drinking the milk from them. It was a time where everyone had a bond like mine and Nero's, and it was a time of isolation and peace. That's what the stories say at least.

More tears pushed forward as I hear their next tune. I inhale sharply and bury my face into Nero's neck. Nero whines and reaches his tongue out to lick my fingers. He rips himself away from me then and places his paws over his ears. I wish I could make it go away too. This song is too painful.

_**Kiss me sweet**_

_**I'm sleeping in silence**_

_**All alone**_

_**In ice and snow**_

_**In my dream**_

_**I'm calling your name**_

This was the funeral song.

The closest woman to the one that died sang it just before she lit the burning pit. Our dead are always burned so that their bodies can make the trip back to the savannahs that we came from. The song is older than grandmama's grandmamma and no one understands the part about ice and snow.

Then it stops. I push away my memories of the time I watched my mother sing this for my father, and then I swallowed hard so I would stop remembering how raw my throat felt when I sang for my mother.

It all went away then when I looked up. A beautiful red bird was drifting through the air around square. I've never seen a bird so vibrantly colored in any world. I watch it float through the air and then gracefully land on the lead singer's shoulder. My eyes narrowed and I saw that around its neck hung the feather. We could easily get that given the chance.

The singer invited his fell musicians to the front then. I jumped to my feet and slowly got up. It was almost time. I leaned over and starting brushing off my dress. A crash happened then from somewhere. I looked up and could only watch. The bird panicked and took flight. I could see that the drummer had tripped over the leg of his drum and caused it to go crashing to the ground with his cymbals. The spooked bird rose into the air then, circled higher into the air and then took off. It was heading toward the bridge over the gorge. I looked to Syaoran and saw he was already following.

I ran then. I've seen the risks Syaoran has taken for Sakura and they're always so stupid. I don't like seeing Sakura cry over him even though she isn't my Sakura. None of us are faster than Syaoran though, not even Nero. I close my eyes and focus my energy to my legs. I don't have an option. I have two Speed Ruins carved, one on each of legs. I activate both at the same time and I shoot forward.

The dagger I have was a gift from Tomoyo. It can make me do incredible things with the right symbols carved on the right parts of my body. I have scars all over but it's worth it. The pain….not so much. My medicine always wears off faster when I used them for some reason.

I push onto the stone bridge. I'm catching up to Syaoran now. The bird flies low and over the side of the bridge. He reaches dangerously over the ledge to grab the feather. Only a few steps away from me. He loses his footing and falls over. Two steps. He misses grabbing the ledge. Zero steps. I jump over after him. I grab the lower ledge and his hand. His arm coils around mine.

"You idiot!" I yell at him as we hang there. I shit my already hurting fingers. I'm not going to be able to hang on for long with him weighing me down. He doesn't say anything. I don't have anything that can save us. I call Nero.

My hand slips a little and I feel my shoulder straining. If my shoulder pops, we're dead. My heart beats fast and I try to pull Syaoran up. He's too heavy for me to lift at all. My fingers lose their grip. Nero has my hand then between his teeth. I wince, but I'm glad. My heart's still beating fast. I swallow hard. Nero can't hold onto us much longer without also breaking my hand in the process. I'm prepared for the pain though.

Then Kurogane's grabbing my arm from Nero. I sigh with relief. He pulls us up by my arm and I hear it pop. I yell and fall shoulder first onto the pavement. My shoulder pops back in and I'm fine again. Nero curls behind me as I slowly get up.

I wiggle the fingers in my hand. A few bones are broken and there are several bleeding teeth marks. My shoulder feels looser and the muscles ache up I'll live. Anger bubbles up in me as I watch my hand swell up. That feather isn't worth my hand and it certainly wasn't worth Syaoran's life! I glare up and I see Syaoran sitting on the ground calmly. I clench my teeth and crawl over.

I slap him across the face. He deserved it for sure.

"Do you even think before you do something?! You could have just died right now and you don't even seem to care! If I hadn't been here you would have died. Life is a gift! There's a girl here who loves you! Do you understand how that would make her feel if you died for her sake?! Do you?" I yell at him. I feel tears in my eyes. My father died for me. The only reason he signed up for the military was because my mother needed the herbs grown in the castle to take care of me. He died for me and the ones left behind are always the ones who hurt the most. I sit back and close my eyes. My chest is tight and I remember that I am alone when it comes to human contact.

**Kurogane**

I stare at her face. I never believed that she had scars under her hood, but I never expected this...Tomoyo wasn't lying, Nakietra is beautiful.

Her skin is a softer brown, darker than mine but somehow more beautiful. Her face was smooth, flawless, and young. She acted twice the age she looked usually but I never expected her to be as young as her voice sounded. Her eyes were light brown in the light. She reached above her head and pulled out the pins in her hair. It was longer than I thought and would easily reach down to her mid-back I'm guessing. Her eyes shot open then and she hastily pulled her hood up. I looked away before she could catch me looking. The boy's cheek was swelling up just like Fai's. I know she can fight, but it's amazing she can hit this hard.

"Syaoran!" Sakura yelled. I looked back to the princess. She was running and rushed to the kid's side with Mokona in her arms.

"Ooooo Nake is so pretty!" Fia said happily and came up just behind me. I look back to Nakietra. She was just tucking her braid back now. Her face was covered though.

"Will you say my name right for once!" She hissed angrily. She didn't like her name being shortened any more than I did.

"You're beautiful Nakietra," Syaoran agreed as he rubbed his swollen cheek.

"Leave it alone." Nakietra said softly and turned away from the circle that had now formed around Syaoran.

"I'm sorry everyone, I couldn't get the feather," Syaoran said staring at the ground.

"Don't be," Sakura said smiling and taking his hands into hers. Nakietra spun around with a new fire burning in her eyes.

**Nakietra**

"You just risked your life for nothing then," I tell him. I look out over the bridge and remember how scared I was to even go near the edge. We had landed all the way at the bottom of the gorge and made the trek up here using the side path. I don't see the bird or the feather.

"I sense the feather. It's down there," Mokona said and pointing down to the river. Everyone stopped talking about Syaoran's suicide attempt and focused their attention on the black car ready to land near us. It impossible to hide from Tomoyo in this city.

"Tomoyo, these guys need to get down to the river to find something that is very important to them." I say as I watch her jump out of the car before it fully landed. In one hand she held a video camera that she was ready to record with. Knowing her, she probably saw the whole thing from up there somewhere.

Tomoyo stared inviting them into her car then and talking about the excellent footage she got. I jumped to my feet and started walking away. Even though I hadn't known her for long, she always seemed to understand when I need to get away from people. Nero followed me and matched my pace. I let my fingers trail along his coat.

It feels like I'm drowning. Every time I breathe in, but breathe stops short. It's like my lungs are being compressed but really I know they're starting to collapse onto one another. I cough harshly and stop until I catch my breath. It's been a long time it was this painful. I need to get my medicine.

I rest one of my hands on Nero's back, and leaned on him a little as we walk. I know he could take my full weight if needed, but if I fall off he can't help me anymore. I thought about taking my medicine before I left, but then I didn't for some reason. I don't remember.

"Hey," Kurogane says softly as he touches my shoulder. I almost jumped up. I don't like people coming up behind me or touching me. He knows this by now.

"What?" I said harshly before coughing heavily. I look at my hand and see some blood. I shouldn't be bleeding yet. I took the medicine this morning.

"Never mind," He says and pulls his hand back. He matches our pace and we walk in silence. I press a hand to my chest and run little circles into it. It helps a little as the pain get worse.

"Are you alright?" He asks then, sounding a bit concerned. I wave him off. I don't need his concern. All my life I've had people doing things for me because I wasn't considered strong enough. I'm sick of it. I don't need help from strangers when I can walk on my own two feet.

"I'm fine. Why aren't you with the others?" I struggle to ask. It's obvious that I'm not alright. Usually it Sakura here with me though. Amazingly, she hasn't told anyone when I tell her not to. She hasn't as far as I know.

"They don't need me," He responds. He usually went with to make sure Syaoran didn't do anything stupid which is why me and Nero tag along usually.

**Kurogane**

Something is wrong with Nakietra. I can't see her face but I can hear her clearly. Her voice is breathless and raspy and her coughs are painful. She needs to stop and catch her breath every time she coughs. I see her leaning on Nero which can't be good for him.

I've noticed how after she uses her "Ruins" that she says she tired and goes off by herself. That's how she usually gets her own room for the night. I've never seen her like this though. This isn't normal tiredness.

I moved to catch her as she stumbled, but she caught herself on Nero. She glared at me as I moved back. I know, she doesn't like to be touched. She also has her pride and is stubborn. When she fights, it's always on her own with Nero. She's always tried to be separate from us.

I let her continue to walk on her own, but I watched her carefully. She won't make it back I know, but I'll let her go as far as she can. She stumbles and I catch her. Carefully I swing her into my arms and keep walking.

**Nakietra**

"Put me down," I say weakly. My head is already swimming from the pain I feel blood tickle out of my mouth and I let it drip down my chin. I haven't been this bad since….the day after my mother died. I was obsessed with the funeral and I didn't take my medicine during my grief after the ceremony.

"You're not well. Save your energy," He told me. My breath shudders and I cough again with my body crouching into a tight ball. A mouthful of blood comes up at least. I struggle to regain my breath and let my bloody hand fall limp on dress. He continues walking. I guess he stopped. I closed my eyes and focus on breathing.

"Tell me what's wrong?" He says then. I don't have the energy to respond. I usually have energy saved up for this, but those Ruins took everything from me.

I heard Nero start whining. He was showing me what he was doing through the bond. He's darting forward and waiting and coming back. Nero knows I needed my medicine soon. He's trying to get Kurogane to move fasted.

"Hey you awake?" He said nudging me. I opened my eyes slightly but then I close them right away. It was too much effort. I feel him start to run.


	4. Connection

**Revision 7/3/2014**

It took barely minute for Kurogane to make it up to the apartment. It took another minute for him to nudge open the door and put Nakietra on the couch. He had no idea what to do and contemplated running out and asking someone to find a doctor. He paused though and watched Nero drag over her bag.

"Water?" Nakietra asks weakly as she sifts through the bag. Her movements are very slow and cause lots of effort. Kurogane gets her a glass of water from the kitchen. He watches Nakietra take out a black padded case. He takes it from her as she fails to open it and does it for her. Inside are five clear glass vials. He takes one out and wonders if he's supposed to give it to her straight or mix it into the water. He's seen medicines like that before.

"Mix it," She breathed as she watched him fingers. He uncorked the vial and poured it into the water. Then, he helped her drink it all. She lay back when she was done as her body started to reboot.

"Thank you." Nakietra said after ten or so minutes. She was very still as she opened her eyes a little wider.

"Does this happen every me you use your ruins?" He asked. Nakietra thought for a long time and stared up.

"Yes," She responded carefully after a while. They sat in silence for a long time then. It was very rare that the two were left alone. Usually Syaoran of Fia was with them, or at least Mokona and Sakura.

"Don't tell anyone," She said then.

"I wouldn't," He answered. She nodded her head like she almost believed him. She continued to stare up before pushing herself up. He watched as her arms shook a little but made no move to help her.

"Tell me about your home. It sounds…like a place in my own world," She asked not looking at him. She was staring down at her hands. Meanwhile, Nero put the black case and the empty vial into her bag and dragged it to their room.

"What have you heard?" he asked instead of telling her anything yet. He still didn't trust her completely although he knew Sakura and possible Syaoran did to some extent.

"Syaoran tell me your people use chopsticks. We do too in our….village. Demons run free in your land, ours only come out at night and only during the Dead Days. We have priests and priestesses with their magic…" She said slowly and carefully. She would not mention the differences.

Kurogane nodded his head. "Those are true," He said and thought hard before saying anything else. He looked at her hands and watched as her fingers curled around each other and dig into old scars. He felt she deserved to know something at least from him.

Kurogane told her about his world then. He talked about his demons, and she told about hers. He found that her demons were much different from his for hers were more like ghosts, evil spirits that steal dead souls and kill children. He told about the priestesses then and also found that their ideas were very different. Her priestesses relied on old magical arts and could only be white. And then he mentioned Tomoyo. Her eyes looked up at him then. She asked so many questions….and then she revealed that she knew Sakura in her world, a different girl but the same in all ways. She didn't share anything else about her Sakura. He told of his village. She looked down again and told him about hers.

"The streets are dirt and dusty. No one sits on them or is on them during the day. Everyone is made to work in the fields if they're able. The children learn from their parents, there are no schools or teachers because no one is allowed to read or write. My people are very many, but we have always been humble. We don't have weapons and with the King we had no reason to. He made sure every house had enough to eat and sent his soldiers down sometimes to spend a day fixing our homes. He was a good King to our people. He rewarded my people who gave their services to him and took care of the families of those who lost their lives in the wars…days are long and hot. Most days we cook outside on flat stones in the sun, but our houses are made of stone also. Our houses block out most of the heat though because they are different stone. The nights are nice, but dangerous. The demons wait in the air about the town. Children disappear when they go out after sunset. Sometimes adults are injured. They can't enter our homes though because they are protected. Life was hard, but we found our ways to be happy…."

They stopped talking then. He didn't know she couldn't read or write. Her way of life was easier to understand though. Her way of life is much different than any of theirs. That is why she distances herself, because she is different.

They heard the elevator then. Nakietra slid her feet off the couch and got up. Without saying anything, she disappeared into her room with Nero and shut the door. Kurogane left her before they even came in, and Nero followed her. Nakietra smiled as she laid down. She forgot what it felt like to talk to someone so freely.

**Morning**

Besides Syraoran suicide attempt, this feather was easier to get by far than many of the previous ones. More and more recently the feathers they've needed have been in dangerous places or powerful hands. Morning came easily and breakfast was calm. No one mentioned Nakietra's face and completely left that subject alone just like they knew she wanted. Then it was time to leave though, and as they made their way to the roof top with Nakietra in the lead, they questioned if they should wait for their busy hostess to appear.

"Nakietra, wait!" she said huffing with her hands on her knees as she banged through the door after them. Nakietra looked back at her. She was hoping to leave before Tomoyo could show up.

"I just remembered this morning, that I found some things with that same symbols that are on you knife," Tomoyo huffed. Nakietra took a step forward with interest. She was always curious about her knife and where it came from. A man came up behind Tomoyo and set a heavy box on the ground in front of her.

"If they don't work, you could give them to the Witch like you did with that sword, but I think they'll work," She said and moved over to the side. Cautiously, Nakietra moved closer. The man opened the box and she looked inside. The objects were strangely shaped like curved "X's" of green marble. She reached out and picked one of the small ones up. The symbols carved in black on the arms were similar to the ones along the hilt of her knife.

It started glowing then in her hand with the same soft white light that her knife did when she first picked it up. It floated up a foot from her hand. She watched it and held perfectly still. It floated around her opposite hand and landed on the back of her other hand. It's arms snaked around her hand and gently clasped around it. She concentrated on it and watched a thin glove surround her hand. She closed her hand and barely felt it.

She picked up the second one then, which looked like the first one. This one attached itself to her other hand just like the first one. The third object floated to her head and made a circlet around it. She looked up and could see a slight green haze.

The power was amazing. She remembered how empowered she felt from the knife. This time she felt next to unstoppable although she knew in her head how easily she could be stopped. "Tomoyo…this is amazing," She said amazed as she flexed her hands.

"There were some ruins like the one where we found your knife. We're still working on translating, but it's supposed to empower the knife we think," Tomoyo said smiling.

"They will… Thank you so much Tomoyo….I can never repay you for everything you've down for us," Nakietra said and swallowed hard. She watched as the power now faded and the objects disappeared into her skin. She rubbed her fingers over her hand and just felt smooth skin. The power was still there though and when she concentrated it, she could see them become visible again.

"I guess, this is goodbye again," Tomyo said sadly. Nakietra looked up sadly.

"Yes…. I won't be able to come back again this time. I know it," Nakietra paused, "Goodbye Tomoyo. I will miss you."

"Bye Nakietra. I hope you succeed in whatever you're doing," She said and wiped her tear away. Nakietra took her hand in her own.

"Me and Hiro will miss you," Nakietra clarified and then stepped back. Mokona was ready and then they were gone.


	5. Giant Spiders

"Mokona, can you sense exactly where the feather is?" Syaoran asked unsurely. He was well aware how easily Mokona's senses drifted between precise and general every time they switched. He looked away from Mokona once more and glanced around at the trees and foliage surrounding them. They were in a jungle in a clearing. Ten feet in front of them, the clearing dropped away into a pit. No one had gone near it yet for the obvious reasons of not knowing what was in it. The pit spanned another ten feet and stopped with a very tall stone wall. The wall was intricately carved in symbols and other unreadable things that could have been words. Heavy vines have grown over the tops though and most of colored paint was gone except for a few chips closer to the bottom. The left edge of the wall continued into the jungle and was covered in tree roots. The left ended with a high tower that was twice the height of the twenty-seven foot wall. The steepest hill possible blocked all other access. There was no way around the pit and no way across.

"Mm…It's up in that tower," Mokona answered pointing at the tower with his right hand. Syaoran looked at the tower. He stared at it closely, looking for anything that could help him even in the slightest.

**Nakietra**

I let out a long breath and lower myself onto the ground. All this traveling is making me sick. Every world seems only to last a day. I curl up my knees and rest my head down. I feel exhausted. The aching in my lungs isn't going away at all anymore. It's only slight but it's enough to keep me up. It's because I can't sleep at night. I moan.

I look up at the others. They think they're being quiet, but not that much. I can't understand exactly what they're saying but I can hear their voices still. I watch Syaoran point up and I realize they're trying to get to the feather. I look into the trees. I never liked jungles anyways. I might as well get the feather for them so we can move on. It's not like they're going to be able to get it anyways. That pit has to be eight feet across at least. Syaoran can defiantly jump it, but that wall won't be easy to climb it he doesn't aim for a handhold.

I get to my feet. I wince as my shoulder clicks. All these feathers always involve climbing it seems. Either they like high places, or someone is specifically putting them there. Why would anyone do that though? Anyone with a rope and a counter-weight can make it up to those high places. Not this one, but every other one that is.

I walk to the ledge and let my toes hang over. I look down into the pit. I take a deep breath. There's something evil in this pit. I take a step back and look at the wall. I don't like that pit and I don't want to think about what might happen if I miss. The wall had definite handholds that I can grab on and I can probably make this jump if I have a running start. I've made jumps bigger than this before but those were better times.

I start from the point right in front of me. I follow the path to the left and then up. Parts of the ledges are gone, but there are ways around it. I find my way up the tower and then my eyes wander back to the wall. Directly inside my route is a huge square shaped hole. It's actually above a part of my route I guess. I lean rest my weight on my right leg. Who knows what's living in that space. It's too much extra work to go around though. I'll just have to move fast. I push my hood back and turn around.

I walk back to the edge of the forest. This would be a good enough running start. I pull my dress over my head and fold it nicely on the ground. Underneath I wear a short sleeved shirt and pants that go down to my knees. Both are black. The material is very flexible and light. I turn back around. Sakura and Mokona are on the ground near the ground. They're watching me. Nero is in the shade of the trees to my left. He's watching me too. He's not stopping me though. I will make this jump. I have to.

I close my eyes and take a deep breath. Then, I run. I open my eyes and snap my foot off the edge of my pit. MY body slams into the edge and I scramble for a hold. My right hand makes it while my left hand fails. I heard Nero whining and jumping around on the ground from behind me. I reach up and grab the ledge with my left hand. I breathe out in relief and start moving. I have a lot of climbing.

"What are you doing?" Kurogane yells angrily. Do I really need to explain myself at this point? Shouldn't it be obvious I won't answer?

"I'm getting the feather," I grunt as I reached up and grabbed the ledge above. I doubt any of them heard me. I hate how they forget I'm not as useless as Sakura. Just because I stand back from a battle doesn't make me scared. It makes me wise considering all I have is my knife. If I had a sword though…

I stop moving and listen. Above Nero's whining still, but there's something else. I blink my eyes and listen very closely…

Something is hitting the stone inside the walls. I need to move, but I don't know where they're coming from so I don't know which way to more. These noises are getting louder. It's like pounding and then scratching. It's better to move forward because I at least have a route in my heard for that area.

"Watch out!" Someone yells. I'm not paying attention. I look left. It's a spider as big as me staring at me. Its fangs are bigger than my forearm and it had eight eyes bigger than my thumbprint. A rock hit its face and then more hit its legs before it fell into the pit. I watch it fall. I see more crawling up the wall and I more. It's defiantly not safe to stay where I am. and saw a giant spider with eight red eyes and two large fangs. I really hate spiders.

I make it to the tower then. At least the others are keeping the spiders off me. Without the stones, I would easily be caught with my limited amount of motion. I reach the supposed ledge with the feather. I pull myself up. The small pavilion is made of white stone with its own pedestal for the feather which is entrapped in some sort of ball. I jump up from my knees and snatch it away. I need to get out of here. I rush back to the ledge and then—

Something slams into me. I put my hands up and feel a spider I breathe in sharply. I hate spiders. I close my eyes and feel it's fangs sink into my chest. I yell from the pain. It's worse than any other injury I've ever had. I hope I hit the ground soon.

I hit someone and then the spider's weight and fangs are gone. I breath in a few times before I open my eyes. Is it really gone or is it thinking about how it wants to eat me?

"Stay as long as you want. I'm very comfortable," Fai said. My eyes flash open and look up. I guess he was the one I landed on. There's a spider dead next to us with its head cut off. I glance around. Spiders are pouring out of the pit. I shouldn't be resting. I get up and start fighting. I have a few good ruins ready.

The spiders bleed chunky green than mixes poorly with their deep grey skin. They were all more or less grey. They kept coming and all they had to fight was us. Syaoran stuck with Nero and protected Sakura and Mokona. Fai had a stick and was able to help at least a little I'm guessing. I wandered farther away from them. I was closest to the pit; Kurogane was midway between me and the other's also. I always worked better on my own. Even being with Nero was hard sometimes.

"There's another feather!" Mokona exclaimed before anyone could say anything. The spiders were all dead as far as I could tell. I flicked the blood off my knife and kept walking forward despite this news. I feel disgusting. I need a bath or something I think.

"Where?" I ask first. I pick up my clean dress very carefully. I don't want to put it on until I'm clean. I'll give it to Mokona to store though. I put my knife away. I feel really good right now.

"Mm…it's hard to tell…Its really far ahead though," He said. I look back at the wall. It looks even more formidable than before. There's nothing else I can do though. At least Mokona didn't say I had to go through that hole in the wall.

"We'll leave this to you then Nakietra," Fai said. I looked at him and saw that smile of his. I already have a plan on how to get on top of the wall so it doesn't really matter. I'll either find a way to bring them all up from there, or I'll just continue on my own and come back.

"You don't have to Nakietra. We can find another way over," Syaoran said laying Sakura carefully on the ground. I don't' know how she got it out of the bubble thing, but she got her feather at least.

"I can do it," I say and, once again, ran at the wall and grab the same ledge.


	6. More Expectations for Nakietra

**Nakietra**

It's pulsing with pain where that spider bit me. I keep climbing though because I don't want to stop. That pit still feels evil to…and if I stop or rest those people down there will think something's wrong with me and I don't need to deal with that right now. Now that I know this world has giant spiders, I want to leave even more so.

I stopped a few feet from the hole. Instead of going under it this time I went over it. The extra work was worth it because I'm pretty sure at least a few spiders came from there or are hiding there now. I'm not going to take any risks with that though.

I my upper body over the top and look around first. I hold my breath. There are spiders here too but these are bright yellow and the size of a man's hand. I focus on a ruin that is on the small of my back. Hiro drew it on me a long time ago but I never liked to use it.

Blue electricity engulfs my body. I climb over the edge fully and the spiders swarm me, popping like firecrackers as they touch the electricity. I always hate this ruin. It doesn't hurt me, I don't even feel static actually, but it scares me. Life is gone in an instant when anything touches this. Even the grass is dying under my feet. I close my eyes and wait for the electricity to fade. It only goes away when all the danger does.

I open my eyes and kick past the spider bodies to look around. I'm on top of the wall, but this part is wider than the part that disappears into the jungle. It extends a little ways and I walk to that edge. It's beautiful.

There used to be a bridge here, but it's all fallen away and it broken. The building on the other side is carved and decorated with statues of terrifying gods and still has paint over the doorway where the moss hasn't touched it yet. Under the broken bridge is serene. There's a small waterfall that empties into a shallow stream that looks clean enough. I really want to take a bath down there. There's some bamboo toward where the stream disappears into the jungle and there has to be some kinds of herbs nearby. I'll have to head down there soon. First I should stick to my other thought and at least try to help those idiots get up the wall if I can. If I encounter more giant spiders, I'll need some help at least.

There had to be some way to get across that pit. Even if the spiders were their own form of defense, they must have had an easier way to get up and down the wall and across the pit…unless the pit didn't always used to be there. The wall was always there though so there must have been a way to get down the wall.

I turn around and look around. I walked right past it I guess because I find it by the wall a few feet from where I climbed up. It's wooden and mostly destroyed by now. There's some stone and metal holding it mostly together though, but not enough where I would trust it to work. I see the platform that used to be lowered in back of it. It's completely ruined.

There has to be something I can do. There has to be a ruin to fix it. I feel like I should remember this, but I'm not.

I remember a time when Hiro thought it might be useful to explore this one temple. It was made of light colored stone and was filled with a race of people who truly had things to fear. Huge lizards twice the size as them lived in the trees over hanging their city. Sometimes they came down to eat children, but no always which allowed the people to prosper to some extent. They gave us a ruin then, and we helped them. We helped them escape through broken and walls and across broken bridges. The Rebuild Ruin.

I sent all my energy to the ruin on my hip. I was never allowed to use it because of how much energy it took out of me.

I breathed in sharply as my energy surged. It beat steadily and I placed my hand on the wood. My energy turned into a soft green and curled around the broken bits. Temporarily, everything will be like new. I watched the paint unfade and the wood unsplinter. It was amazing. The platform put itself back together. It had layers or strong sturdy wood along with a strong fence to go around it. The whole thing was done up in royal colors like blue and red. A rope appeared and the platform was moved over the edge. I took my hand away but the energy stayed. I need to get moving.

I found the wheel to lower the platform and start turning it. It was amazing to watch the gears turn as well as how if you let go of the wheel, it wouldn't continue moving in either direction. It wasn't difficult either to turn. I was only lowering the weight of the platform though at this point. It would be worse with every one riding on it I know. I stopped the platform when it was even with the ground.

"Get on the platform," I yell down to the rest of the group. Everyone looks up at me unsure and Kurogane especially was examining it to see if it really was safe. I stare at Nero. I'm sure about this. I'm so sure that I am willing to risk Nero's life to prove it. He looks ahead and steps onto the sturdy platform. Sakura followed next along with Syaoran right behind her. Then came Fai and lastly Kurogane with Mokona being very happy on his head.

I start turning the wheel back now. I focused on a ruin on the side of my right shoulder to help me, but it's still hard. The wheel is big enough for three people to turn. It's not hard to understand why. The platform evened with the ground and everyone was off in an instant. The platform wasn't big enough for all of them I knew but the ruin will run out before then I knew.

My breath leaves me as I watch the process in reverse. The paint peels away from the contraption. The wood splinters and the metal rusts. The rope disappears and the platform collapses onto the ground into dust.

"That was amazing Nake! I knew we could count on you!" Fai says in that amazed voice he always has. He doesn't even realize the beautiful thing that was just destroyed in front of us. Sometimes I wonder how old he really is. He acts like he's ten years younger than me.

"Let's move on. I don't like this place," I say and start moving ahead. Nero moves beside me and brushes against my leg. I didn't bother to correct Fai about my name this time. I'm too sick of it at this point.

I hear the others start to follow me. I stop at the edge of the wall and look down at the river. Kurogane is the one who comes up to the other side of me. He doesn't say anything.

"Is there something you need to say to me?" I ask him. That's the only reason anyone every comes up to me.

"You don't need to be on your own," He said. I look at him sideways.

"You don't know me. I need to be on my own," I said softly and glared up at him. He was completely calm. He's not Syaoran. He's not scared of me.

"Mokona, can I have my bag?" I asked and go to where Mokona is now back in Fai's arms. Mokona nods his head and shoots out my bag. I catch it and lean down to the ground. I need to redraw that Rebuild Ruin, but I need to know exactly what it looks like first.

I brush through my bag and slow down on the half-sized leather book Hiro made me. He put every ruin we found in here and wrote everything in very heavy pen so it wouldn't fade. I untie the strap and flip through the pages. I found it relatively fast. I pull out my knife and start sketching it on my arm.

"What are you planning?" Kurogane asks eyeing me. He probably had an idea of what I'm going to do. He's not one to assume things though.

"This Ruin can temporality rebuild anything that is broken, for example this broken bridge in front of us," I say. He looks out at the bridge and examines it.

I pull myself up and walk to the edge. There are multiple routes I can take down as well as enough to get back up. I choose the ones that looks the most stable and jump. I hear Sakura shout. No one can stop me at this point.

I carefully drop and jump from beams to ledges to poles until I hit solid ground. I glance around and then kneel down next to the water. I cup the water in my hand and splash handfuls of it over my face. I wasn't aware I was so hot. My body should be used to this heat. I've lived through much worse in my home town.

"Watch out!" Someone yells and I look up.


	7. One Tiger, Two Tiger, Three Tiger

**Nakietra**

I barely dodge the tiger as it snaps for my head. I remember when some sort of diplomat visited and offered two to The King. He refused them because they could easily eat any amount of small children and kill a number of adults. This tiger is more dangerous. It's hungry.

I turned my head around. I see two more come out of the shadow. They're stalking me. I start walking backwards slowly. This is a very bad situation. If only I can get to the bars, I might be able to get away before they can kill me.

The tigers make a semi-circle around me. I'm almost to the poles, but it's going slowly. This can't come to a fight because I'll lose for sure. Those spiders took the last of my offensive ruins and I haven't found any useful ones for defense. All I have is my knife and tigers are way stronger than me no matter what.

There's a sharp noise of something breaking. I look up at the noise and see Syaoran. Why is he climbing down here? He's going to get us both killed. I look forward and see one tiger pounce forward. Shit. I missed the pounce. The tiger digs its claws into my back and I shut my eyes.

Then I feel blood. The tiger collapses on me and I know its dead. I wish it didn't weight 300+ pounds though because now I can't move. If only I had my own sword, this wouldn't have happened like this.

The tiger was gone then and I was free. Someone lifted me up by the back of my shirt. I swiped at the hand and that person let go. It was Kurogane. I huff and stare at him and Syaoran. I want to kill Syaoran this time. I really do. He turns to me and I see his shoulder is scratched. Good. He deserves that.

"Why would you think it's a good idea to come down here?" I ask calmly as I can. I can't yell with Syaoran because he freezes up and then he's no use to me. I just want to know the answer before I start climbing up

"You were in danger," Syaoran says plainly, looking me in the eye instead of away like he usually did when I was mad.

"So that makes it okay? I was handling it perfectly before you distracted me," I say trying to remain very calm.

"You didn't look like you were handling it," Kurogane says with a small smile. I kick him in the shin from where he was standing in front of me. He clenches his teeth.

"I was retreating, but maybe you would like to know that predators enjoy chasing prey that runs," I say as I start to get to my feet. My body feels really weak now. The two stand silent. "If you hadn't distracted me, I would have been high up before they pounced," I told them and turned to the pole. I grabbed up and soon I was starting to get somewhere. My shoulder was starting to feel stiff and my wound it still painful. I should look at that soon I guess.

I barely make the jump to the cliff and then lie there on my back to rest. I need some sleep.

"Are you alright?" Sakura asks worriedly. I don't like answering that question when she asks it. I just nod yes.

I felt someone touching me then. My shirt is cut away and I feel my wounds burn in the sun. I keep my eyes closed so I don't have to look. It had to be Fai looking at my wound because Sakura's hands are always so hesitant. Fai's done by the time Syaoran and Kurogane finish their climb up. I still lie there though, unresponsive and completely exhausted.


	8. A Fight Over Love

**Nakietra**

Fai had started a small fire while ago and was cooking now. No one was talking to me. It's not very weird considering no one ever wanted to talk to me because they know I don't like to talk back. I could see what he was making or smell it. I closed my eyes and let my eyes rest at least a little.

I remember what summer used to feel like. It was impossible to go outside because the sun was so extreme. The workers in the fields wore heavy cloth to protect their skin and the plants had shelters built over them so they wouldn't burst into flames. Food was harder to come by in the fields, but the fish were plentiful from the rain that came every few days as well as the resilient herbs outside the castle. The white men never left the palace grounds in the summer. I remember cooking eggs for dinner on our hot rocks that we baked in the sun. We loved the heat though. It meant life, it meant the white men were trapped away from us just for a few months. Whenever Hiro was home, we would take the younger children and go to the river. Most other children our age worked, but this was my work. I watched the children for the mothers.

The current was almost non-existent at the river and it emptied into a sort of small lake that was an hour's walk away. We loved the lake. We never took the children there though. That was our special spot that no one else was allowed to know about. I remember Hiro carrying at least two children on his back on our walk home because they were too tired to walk.

I turned my face into the grass as my face scrunched up in pain. I want to be home. I want to go to the lake with Toya and Hiro. I want to sing at dinner and wear my familiar heavy sun dresses. I want to walk bare foot again and sleep under the adobe roof of any house in the village. I want to walk home soaking wet with just my skirt and my brother's shirt on.

But…I can't go home. I'm dead there. I can never go home again….not that there's anyone there that cares…except…Toya.

Fia started shaking me, "Nake! Nake!" He kept saying over and over again. I moved my arm and rubbed my hand over my face. It was damp with sweat.

"What?" I ask, pushing his hands off me.

"Drink," He said simply and put the cup into my hand. I sat up and stared into the cup.

It was a sort of white liquid. I brought it up, and sniffed it. It smells like vanilla and something else. A kind of herd my mother used to use. I inhale deeply again and close my eyes. She used to make tea with it to help my body stay strong. It was a slightly bitter herd, but if you add some vanilla or cinnamon it would be blocked out. I took small sips like I remember doing as a child. This was the worst thing Fai could give me right now. I bring the cup down and cover my face. I miss my mother most of all. She was harsh and strict mostly, but she was my mother.

"Nakietra, what would you like to eat?" Sakura asked nicely then. I bring my hand down and see her with a smile on her face. I smiled too. It makes me happy to know that there is another Sakura that is still living and breathing, and is also happy.

"Just give me whatever you have made," I respond. I'm not picky with my food, but there were a select few times where I refused to eat what was in front of me just because it had oranges or coconut. Those were two things that were rare in my home country and they weren't things I liked at all. People always say the rare things are the best, but that's not always true. In truth though, I wasn't even hungry. I know I'll need the energy though.

"Alright," She says and hands me a half slice of bread with some meat and green mushy stuff on top that could have been anything. I guessed it was this thing called 'avocado' that we picked up in some tropical world. I ate it without a comment.

My body felt a lot better than it had before I noticed as I started to get up. My legs felt strong and sturdy, as well as my arms. I flexed my fingers and made everything in my body worked as it should, and wasn't any more damaged than the parts that I already knew about. Fai could have hurt me somehow and I didn't feel it.

I glance around and noticed that I lost Nero. With tigers, giant spider, and their smaller cousins, I don't want Nero far away from me. I call him in my head and watch him come out from the forest. There are flecks of blood under his chin so I know he had done his own hunting. I hope he was done because we have to move on. I look at the group, but I stop myself from telling them to move. They were all eating. I have better things to do. I go sit by the edge.

"Nake's being nice today!" Mokona announced happily as he jumped around everyone. I shake my head and grab my bag and Hiro's book from where I left them.

"Yes she is," Fia said smiling. I don't need to be told when I'm nice. I already know when I am.

I look up at the sun. The sun is still rising, but we don't know how far the feather is though. I don't want to be out here when dark comes. I hang my legs over the edge and pull out my knife. I need to make sure I'm not caught defenseless again. I start carving ruins.

"We're ready to go Nake!" Mokona announced six ruins later. Slowly, I hop to my feet and sheave my knife. My right shoulder feels much stiffer than before. I roll it around and get ready. I need to concentrate on rebuilding this bridge.

'Let's go then," I say and take a deep breath. I close my eyes and concentrate on my new Rebuild ruin. I feel the same familiar pulse, but this time I don't have to touch anything. I', already on the bridge it seems.

"Good job Nake!" Fia exclaims happily. I open my eyes and there was a brightly glowing golden bridge.

"Let's go then." I say stepping onto the bridge. I need to keep concentrating this time because it's bigger. I walk slow so it's easier, but I need them to go faster.

"Get to the other side as quickly as possible," I tell them. They run. They don't try to wait for me, not even Nero. I guess they're tired of pissing me off today. I watched them stop on the other side. I walked faster then. This ruin was draining my energy quickly. I let my concentration go and ran the last few feet. I barely made it.

"That was close." Syaoran said with sigh. I was in control though.

"Let's keep going," I say and move on. Kurogane took the lead, Sakura and Syaoran were right behind him, and Fia behind them. Me and Nero brought up the rear while we communicated through our minds. Nero was expressing his worry for me, I was trying to reassure him. Something was wrong with me he felt. I wasn't so sure.

I looked at him with an angry expression. He snarled at me. He wanted me to say something about my stiff shoulder. I said no. He growled. I told him to make me.

"Stop it!" Sakura said suddenly between us. I was just as shocked as Nero. My eyes glanced to the side. I saw that everyone was looking behind at our little spout. I glanced to the opposite side, ashamed.

"What's going on?" Kurogane asked.

"Nothing," I respond. I walk away from Nero, toward the front. I take the lead now and Nero stays at the back, alone. I set a fast pace and I barely glance at our surroundings. We're going through an old temple hallway with moss covered walls, and green coming out of everywhere. Vines are handing from openings in the celling, grass is poking through the stones underfoot, and ferns are growing from odd angles on the walls. No one's been here in hundreds of years.

I start thinking about Nero. It's not the fact that he cares, it's the fact he want me to reach out to these people. I'm going to be dead by the end of the year, why should I put them through the torture of getting to know me when they're just going to have to watch me wither away?...I'd rather torture myself with loneliness and separation.

"You alright?" Kurogane's voice suddenly came from my right. My head jerked right and I saw him walking right next to me. I didn't hear him come up next to me.

"Yeah," I answer quietly. It doesn't matter if I am or not at this point. I'm dying, nothing can change that. I can't believe I snapped at Nero like that. He shouldn't have reacted like that either, but it's both of our faults.

"Why do you lie to us when you're in pain?" He responds quietly, his eyes glancing toward me. I quickly glanced behind me. Everyone else was farther back and they were playing some kind of game. Even Nero was participating. Nero deserved a better partner than me. What will happen to him once I die? If we never go home, he'll never get back to his pack. It would be all my fault.

"Why do you care?" I ask quietly without realizing it. I want to hear his answer though. Everyone always lies, but who really cares about they lie? Sure, people ask, but none of them are actually curious. They're just looking for place to blame.

"You think you distance yourself from us, but the only thing you're doing is showing us that there's something you don't want us to know," He said softly. My eyes caught his.

"Everyone here has their secrets. I'm no different," I said. He broke his gaze away first and stared ahead.

"Yes, you are," He responded. I didn't question it. I looked forward then. There was straight sunlight ahead. I breathed out in relief. I was starting to hate these little patches of light we kept passing.

Then I find another ledge. It covered with a roof and there's a courtyard forty-five feet below us I can see and it's fully in the sun. To the right is a sort of platform connected to a pulley system. That must bring us safely to the ground. Also it's completely even with the floor. Everyone else gather's and looks around at the beauty I've already established while I stare at the main part. Directly across from us is a statue, gigantic in size and over a seventy feet tall I'm guessing and maybe fifty feet across.

He's a man, a god I'm guessing. He's standing on eight arms with his legs folded Indian style in the air. His face is twisted around to look normal to us and I can easily see its mockingly evil smile. I've seen that smile before. He must have something to do with the feather.

I move to the platform and look around. There's a stitch to release the break I assume. Up above are a series of pulleys and ropes all of which are thick and strongly built. The group starts filing onto the platform. I think they've figured it out. Nero comes over to me. This platform is much bigger than the other ones.

"I'm sorry," I say softly to him and wrap my arms around his neck. In his own way, he apologizes to me through pictures and emotions. His pink tongue slipped out and gently licks the side of my face. He and me both reacted too sharply. Neither of us needed to be that cruel, and now we know that.


	9. Finally We're Getting Somewhere

**Nakietra**

I take a seat on the platform and Nero continues to wash my face. He feels he was more wrong than me and there's no way for me to stop him at all. No one in my group had any idea how to get down to the courtyard apparently, they just followed me. They'll figure it out eventually.

I turn back to the statue. The eight arms narrows down the religion to a few, but there's no bangles or jewelry that I can see which is odd. All gods have jewelry usually. I let out a frustrated breath. His ears are normal, his eyes are normal, his clothes are robes. This doesn't narrow the religion down any further. There's no sacred animals on the robes. No markings or tattoos that I can see. There's nothing.

I sigh and give up. Carefully I stretch out my legs and lie back. The platform was partly in the sun but not all the way. It felt good against my bare skin at least. My shoulder still felt incredibly stiff but there's nothing I can do about it. I don't want to make it worse by stretching it out yet. I'll wait til after we've changed worlds.

I reached my arms to the stone ceiling overhead. My shoulder feels a little better. That was a softer stretch than most though. Then I noticed something. I stare at the ropes. None of them are connected to the platform. I though the hook holding the platform was the break. This isn't a lift, this is a trap.

"STOP!" I yell but it's too late. Syaoran had already pulled the switch and the platform was falling..

_Use the catch symbol! On the small of your back! Catch the ring!_

I saw it. The golden ring on the wall. I focused energy to the small of my back. Energy lashes out of my hand and latches onto the ring.

_Use the net symbol! On your right ankle! Catch your friends!_

I sent power to my ankle. I release it and the energy spread out and creates a net around them. I breathe out sharply. My shoulders are tearing. What did I just hear? What did I just do?

"That was awesome Nake!" Mokona said happily. I look down and count everyone up. Everyone's alive.

_Stretch your power. Get them as close to the ground as you can and release it._

There's that voice again. Who's speaking in my head? It's not Nero. Nero's voice sounds like a young man's but tougher. I stretched the line that was attached to the ring until it was ready to snap. This was different than the Rope ruin which gave me a rope of power. It wasn't flexible like this at all though.

"When I count the three, I'm going to release the net. One…Two…Three," I said and released both ruins. Everyone landed on their feet except Sakura, who was in Syaoran's arms, me. I started on my feet, but then I fell forward. I feel really weak and very dizzy. I close my eyes and watch my vision fade in and out as I open them again. Those ruins took a lot of energy from me.

Nero moves in front of Sakura growls. I look up. There are enemies on both sides. I look and see lizards. They're green with huge red eyes. I squeeze my eyes shut and scramble to my feet. If I stay here, I'm dead.

They're coming from everywhere. A bunch come from the upper levels and down the walls. I see Kurogane covering us from that angle along with Syaoran. Nero and Fai are holding them off at the right doorway. I turn to the left. I need to do my share. I can't be the weak link here.

I pull out my knife. Killing them is harder than I thought. They were faster than I thought and they were also playing with me by nipping my ankles. They're teeth are like needles, but they're the length of Nero so I should be able to get them easily. It's my vision though. I can't see enough so therefore I can't use my ruins. I don't have enough energy to use my ruins for guess work.

The first two went down easier. They tripped over each other and got caught underneath my foot. The other four were smarter. They didn't try head on attacks as much their predecessors had and only went one after the other. Their pattern took me a minute to figure out and then I had three more dead. Now there was only one left. I look a step forward. If I don't sit down soon I'm going to fall down and then I'm dead. The lizard moved back a step.

This one was smarter. I can't get close to him so therefore I can't kill him. I thought about calling for some help taking it out. Just to kill it as I distracted it. Kurogane did just that though without my needing to call. He looked me over and then left without a word. I looked at the dead lizard and then carefully lowered myself down to the ground. I feel like I'm going to be sick because my heard hurts so much. I stuff my knife in sheave and take deep breathes. It doesn't help.

Sweet drips from my forehead and then onto my pants. I feel like I need to lie down but this isn't the time or place for it. I put my head in my hand and rest it there. I feel worse. Nero clicks over and licks the sweat off my face. His hot tongue is not welcome right now. The stone beneath me is burning with sun and I can feel my shirt soaking up all the heat around it. I press my cheek to his face.

"I'm okay Nero," I say tiredly and scratch his ears. He stops licking and sniff me. He whines. He jerks his head away from me and takes off. I don't look up to see where he's gone.

**Kurogane**

"Mokona, where is the feather?" Syaoran asks one more time. He's been making sure Sakura wasn't hurt and hadn't listened the first time to Mokona answered. I don't care enough to answer. It's still sad how much he dotes. She'll never remember him, but he keeps trying. People have done stranger things for the people they care for though.

"Hm…It's below us," Mokona answers one more time and points down. I don't understand how we're supposed to get underneath us. There might be a stair case or a hidden passage. Nakietra would be the one to tell though. This is her area of expertise.

"There must be a way down there then," Syoaran says and wanders toward the statue. There's something strange about that thing. It's almost like it's mocking us. I hear the click of Nero's paws and look the other way. Nero is running over to us. His mistress is sitting down on the ground near the broken platform. I wonder how she figured out it was a trap. Nero kneads his head against Sakura's leg. He wants something.

"What's wrong Nero?" Sakura asks and kneels on the ground in front of him. He pants in front of her and dig into the ground. Nakietra said that the panting meant he wanted water and the digging meant it was for someone. All of us had picked it up quickly after she told us. "You want water?" Sakura asked for confirmation. All of us except Sakura. Nero nodded his head 'yes'. It was amazing how much he understood us and how human some of his gestures were. Even in my home world, the demons weren't even this human. They had their own entire language that we couldn't understand. They're our enemies though, why do we need to understand them?

"Mokona, can you give me some water?" Sakura asked. Mokona nodded his head up and down before producing a wreathed canteen. Nero grabbed the strap from Mokona and bounded off toward his mistress. Something's not right. Nakietra has her own water canteen that she uses from her bag. She would never ask Nero to get it either.

Nero drops the canteen in her lap. She doesn't move to touch it. He sniffs her face and licks it. I hear him whine. She's not responding to him. Something's wrong. I'm the only one that reacts.

I'm next to her in seconds. Her hair is escaping from her braid and is plastered to her skin in sweat. Her breathing was heavy and slow and her eyes are closed. Nero whines again. I put a hand on her arm and she falls sideways. She's burning hot. I take the canteen and unscrew it. I pour the water over her face which seems to help because she squeezes her eyes shut tighter and breaths in sharply..

I hear the other's come too. Sakura is screaming for Syaoran. Fai is looking over my shoulder. I twist her on to her back and rest her on my arm. My arm can feel that these stones are burning and it's not even touching it. I wondered about the ruins. She's been using them like they felt like nothing today. Her old limit was three. She must be at her limit now.

"She's burning," I tell Fai. He's the closest one to a doctor other than Nakietra.

"We need to get her out of the sun," Fia says practically in my ear. He looks around. I do too. Everywhere in the shade is up above. There's no way we'll be able to get up there.

"She has to get out of the sun and into somewhere cool so she can rest," I retorted. I closed up the

"It's cold inside," Syaoran said loudly. I follow his voice. He's by the left doorway where the lizards were coming out of.

"Check around of any lizards inside," I tell the kid. We have no better choices. I pick Nakietra up and move her inside. He was right, it was cold in there.

**Nakietra**

Something nice and cool was pressed against my cheek. I remember after my mother died, I spent a night in the ruins. It was winter. The days were still warm, but the nights were freezing. I used a smooth stone from the river as a pillow and it stayed cold the whole night for me because I was sick with a fever and I didn't want Toya or grandmamma to find out and call Hiro home.

I breathed out a twitched my fingers. I was lying on my back and I opened my eyes to see stone above me. I blinked a few times. I remember fighting and then sitting down. I remember being shocked with cold water and then…here. I'm missing some memories.

I look left. Kurogane is sitting with his legs crossed. His right hand is curled around his sheathed blade, his body is tense and ready to fight. His eyes are closed though. He must know I'm awake. He's guarding me. I purse my lips. I feel so shameful for making him guard me. He should be helping Syaoran find the feather, not watch a sick person get slightly better. I do feel a lot better though after sleeping.

I take a deep breath and push myself up. I fight of the dizziness. I didn't pass out from the heat, that's impossible. I come from a land that's hotter than this every day. My body must be getting worse. My fingers tighten into fists. How long until I'm too weak to even do that?

"Drink some water," Kurogane's says. I look over to him and see his eyes open and watching me. I find the canteen near me and take a drink. I'm not really thirsty.

"Where are we?" I ask as I examined our surroundings. It was a dim corner with carvings all along the walls. We're still in the temple. Underneath though? How did they figure out how to get below ground at all? I look up. We aren't far underground though. There's sunlight coming through the cracks and holes in the ceiling.

"We're in a hallway out of the sunlight," He answered. That was so helpful considering I already figured that out. I stared at him. "We are underneath the entrance we came out of before the platform fell," He rephrased. That was a lot better.

"How did I get here?" I asked fearing the answer. I know I didn't collapse here, but I know I did somewhere. I remember being very hot and my head hurting a lot after the fight with the lizards. It was not heat stroke though.

"We brought you here after you passed out," His said seriously. Was my already failing health a serious thing? There's no cure, not that they know that.

"Who carried me?" I asked. Syaoran's not much shorter than me but I don't think he's strong enough to carry me. He still only a boy. Fai is weak like a puppy dog…but he could probably still carry me. Kurogane though….I remember hearing his voice before I passed out completely.

"Me," He answers easily while he stares at me. Good. I don't like how he looks so disapprovingly at me though. My life isn't as important as he must think it is.

"Where are the others?" I ask diverting my eyes from his face and look around once more.

"Outside. They're looking for a way to get farther underground," He explained. That must be where the feather is then.

"We should go help," I say and start to push myself up. My right arm collapses. Kurogane is fast enough and grabs my other arm so I don't crash into the ground. He pulls me up to my feet. I don't thank him.

"The door is this way," He responds and turns to the left. I follow him. The courtyard is just a little dimmer than I remember, but there's still a ton of sunlight. If the feather is underground, we must be nearby. We still have time. Nero barks and I look left. He runs to me with very positive emotions shocking through the bond. I bend down and wrap my arms around his neck with a smile. I'm glad Nero still cares.

"Nero," I breathe and let him go as he starts to lick me. I don't need any more of his slobber on me today I think. Behind him I see the other three making their way toward me. I stand up but my smile is gone. I need to work and these three always like to question my health. I look sideways. They shouldn't care about me. It's pointless.

"Shouldn't you rest more?" Sakura asks right away as she stops next to Nero. She's always the one who comes the closest to me. I look up at her.

"I'm fine," I tell her sincerely. I could sleep some more, defiantly, but we, as a group, can't afford it. I look past her and concentrate on the statue. I remember who he is now that I can see his face just a little clearer. He's Matu, the Zenu god of deception, mischief, and pranks. The platform was a tribute to him, not a trap. This is his temple which explains the spiders and lizards perfectly. They're the creatures of deception in most cultures because they have the ability to stand completely still and look like statues until it's too late. Knowing Matu, the answer to our problems is that statue of him and also will be hard to figure out and to obtain the feather.

"Are you alright?" Kurogane suddenly asks into my ear while placing a rough hand on my shoulder. I literally cringed at the suddenly loudness and take a step sideways away from him.

"What?" I ask and stare up at him. He always looks serious.

"You weren't answering us," Syaoran says worriedly. I look to him and try to keep my face hard. He's only a kid. He shouldn't look worried or serious when it comes to me.

"I' working," putting emphasis on every word, "The statue is the key to getting to the feather." I say. They all look back at the statue.

"How do you know?" Syaoran asks. Everyone looks at me.

"That statue," I pointed to it, "is of the god Matu. He is a god of deception. The statue is just as much of a deception as that platform was. It makes it seem like it's the end of the road but it isn't," I say slowly. I take quick, sure steps closer to the statue and around them. I'm the only one whose going to be able to figure this one out I bet.

As I get closer I find our lock. Two light sensitive gems are lined up across Matu's crossed ankles. I've seen these many times over, but never so high up and so shaded. This was meant to be a puzzle. The only way to open the door was to shine a steady stream of light into those switches. Now we just need to find the mirrors.

I turn around and scan for them. They should be on something sturdy and at a fixed angle so there's only one way the door can be opened. Many ancients believed that there should only be one way in which something should be done.

I hear everyone talking behind me. They're discussing what the hell I'm doing and stuff. I don't have the time to correct them or anything. I walk around the edges. It doesn't have to be mirrors. Anything reflective will do as long as it can reflect strong enough.

"What are you looking for?" Kurogane asks loudly and grabs my shoulder. I'm forced to stop and look back at him. We don't have time for this.

"Mirrors," I answer and turn my head forward to continue looking around.

"Why?" He ask sternly. I huff. He's the only one who ever seriously questions what I do in this group. I purse my lips together. Doesn't he get that I like going my own way. Maybe I don't want them following me.

"The gems on Matu's ankles are light sensitive. We need to find reflective objects that could or could not be mirrors to activate the gems which will hopefully open a door for us," I explain quickly. I see it then, a bright patch on the wall from a reflection toward the pillars North-West of me. I jerk my shoulder and dart forward. I stagger as pain shots through my wound as well as blazing heat. I'm not a careful person I guess.

It's a statue made of something that's like silver. Silver would melt in this heat though and wouldn't look as perfect as it did now. It a woman dressed in a revealing dress. Her right arm was slung over her head with an open fan sitting lazily from her hand. Her left arm is draped across her hips to reveal another open fan that rests on her slightly raised thigh. Bare skin along her arms and chest are plenty but not so much for her legs. The fans are silver plated though I'm sure because of the blinding light it's reflecting from the sun. This was one of the parts made to open the door.

My eyes search around the base of the statue for a way to move it. There's no handles on the four foot base. There is a track though which is very helpful for the eventual positioning. It doesn't make it much easier to move it though.

"What did you find?" Syaoran asks right behind me. I twitch greatly at his sudden appearance before answering.

"This statue is made to help open the door. We have to find a way to move it," I say while I tried to tug on it. So far it wasn't budging. I'm not very strong by myself though.

"Nakeitra!" Fia yells, "We found something!" I stop trying to pull the statue and look behind me. Fai and Sakura are in the middle of the courtyard. Fai is point toward something near the upper right and my eyes follow. I see two mirrors sitting side by side on a ledge far above where we entered.

I move more into the courtyard and look for a way up there. I don't know what they do, but those mirrors must be important considering they're Matu's most revered objects. I see a way up, but first I would have to get to the upper level again.

_Draw Catch symbol. Grab the ring above._

I breathe in sharply and take a step back. A child is speaking inside my head again. It's a young boy that I don't recognize at all.

_We explain later. Now save us. We are trapped below._

That's good enough for me right. They wanted to be freed from their prison below and I have to go down below to get the feather anyways. It should be a win-win for both of us. Why talk to me though? Sakura has always been more receptive to spirits and more accepting of them. True, I come from a world where our ancestors have talked to us time and time again, but this was not an ancestor of mine.

"What are you planning?" Kurogane asks as I approached the eastern wall where he had taken post. Syaoran was working on the statue with Fai and Sakura now. They were moving it along the track but they had nowhere to put it right now.

"I need to get those mirrors," I reply while I look for the ring that the child spoke of. I assume it's somewhere around the upper level.

"Why?" He asks.

"We need them to open the door," I reply cryptically. I glance to him. He knows that I have no idea what the mirrors are for at this point. I continue my searching and find a stone ring just about the right upper levels. I unsheave my knife and draw the Catch Ruin on my inner wrist. I draw a few more just in case and a few fireballs while I wait for the first one to completely soak in. I put my knife back and start my climb.

"Be careful," Kurogane says just as I reach my hand up. I glance to his calm face and then pull myself into the air. Kurogane never told me to be careful. He always watched….maybe he thought I was losing my touch. No, if anything I'm gaining it back. I go to the hole in the ceiling I saw before and climbed up through it.

Nero joined my thoughts then. He sent me a mental image of me slamming down into Fia's arms after the spider are pushed me off the tower. From his view, it looked scary. My eyes my closed, my reaction time was slow and there was blood all over my chest.

He shows me more. I see myself barely hanging onto cliffs and falling into water at painful angles. From his view with the others, yes it looked dangerous. If it had been Syaoran in those positions, I would have been running to him because I would have thought he was going to die….I pause my climbing. I must look like such a fool to these people. I keep my distance and don't ask for help when really I need people. It's obvious I do. A tear rolls down my cheek and I keep climbing. I'm not strong, I never was.

I remember climbing trees and sneaking into the nearby ruins with my brother. He was the one that taught me to spot cliffs, how to climb, and how to plan out all climbs and all escape routes in case something fell apart. He taught me to think. He kept me strong and healthy. I clench my teeth. I miss Hiro.

I pull myself up onto the ledge holding the mirrors. I look into one as I pick it up and I see my face; hard, lined, my hair dull and frizzed from the heat. I'm a mess. My lips are too small, my eyes too small and look like black orbs. I blink once and I remember Hiro. Nero sends me a picture of our welcome home dinner. Hiro was smiling next to me. His arm was around Ira and he looked so happy. It hurt but at the same time I felt better. I feel like I'm starting to forget the brother I knew my whole life and only remembering the one that died because of me.

Fai is calling up to me. I ignore it and pick up the second one. The pedestals they're on are beautiful. They're golden lotuses with very thin petals. I run my fingers over the smooth metal and turn around. I breathe in deeply and groan then. I didn't bring my bag up with me. There's no way I'm going to be able to climb down without breaking these mirrors.

_Draw Catch and Net symbols. Use those._

_Thank you children_, I thought gratefully. I carefully set the mirrors on the ground and carve a Net Ruin. I sit on the ground to stop the world from spinning. The little sleep I got is fading away from the climb and all these Ruins I'm carving and using.

"I'm going to lower the mirrors. You have to catch them," I yell down. Syaoran repeats what I said questionable. I nod my head.

"Yes," I yell back. I focused on the symbols and place the mirrors inside the net. Ever so slowly, I lowered the mirrors to the ground where Syaoran was waiting to get them. My whole body was tense with the fear they would crash to the ground and break. I don't know what they're for yet, but they must be important somehow. I relax once Syaoran has them firmly in his hands.

I allow myself a small smile of satisfaction before getting up to stretch. Things were starting to go better for me. We have most of the pieces of the puzzle, I think, now we just have to figure out how to put them together. I stretch out my arms and look down into the courtyard. Everyone looks so small and so…connected. Sakura and Fai are kneeling on the ground looking at the mirrors while Syaoran is looking around the statue. Kurogane is the only one watching me. He didn't look as disappointed as before, but still very serious. Nero sent me a picture that he was inside the cool hallway. It's too much for him out here since his coat is used to the colder places we keep winding up in.

"Behind you!" Kurogane shouts. I turn around just in time to catch a long, green lizard that wanted to bite my head off with its little teeth. I take a step back with foot half off the edge. I'm barely staying upright with this lizard's wiggly weight. I keep its head back and take a step forward. I almost hand my knife. Another slammed into my legs then and I was over the edge, falling. Fear installed inside me. I don't like falling. The lizard let go or me and tried to reach the ledge. It failed.

_The ring that saved you the first time. Use it again._

I look for the ring and started sending energy to the Ruin. I don't see it. I'm falling too fast.

_Release your energy now._

I released it and felt my body jerk to a stop as it tugged my injured arm. It pulsed with tear-jerking pain that caused me to cry out in pain, but I was happy to still be alive. The lizard passed by me and I shut my eyes as it slammed into the ruined platform below me. I open my eyes and breathe shakily. I feel blood dripping down my shut. I squeeze my eyes shut and clench my teeth. I feel the pain now from it. It's burning. I'm at my limit I think. I can't control my energy and I'm too far from the ground to not break any bones.

"Come down," Fai calls. I can't respond. The pain is too much. My energy is unwinding. I'm going to fall. I feel it fading.

"Jump," Kurogane yells, "We'll catch you." I don't have the energy to jump. I feel my brain start to get slack. Just a little bit longer. I just need to hold on. The rope snaps. I squeeze my eyes shut. I'm ready for more pain. Someone catches me. I open my eyes and I see Kurogane staring down at me. I keep my eyes open so he doesn't know I'm in pain.

"You're bleeding," He stares. I close my eyes and know I'm screwed.

"What? Let me see," Fai demands. I feel my vision fading and I encourage it greatly.

I wake up again on my back. My shirt is gone and a new one is draped over my essentials. I feel the herbs stinging my wound and I recognize the smells. I remembering my mother using these herbs on spider bites that workers got in the fields. The spiders there were mildly poisoness and were supposed to be treated before they went to sleep. I turn my head and see Kurogane guarding me in the same place as last time.

"You shouldn't move," Kurogane tells me.

"It doesn't matter," I respond harshly and push myself up. Nero had decided to leave me here with Kurogane and protect Sakura he says now that he knows there are still lizards alive here. I guess Kurogane is good enough protection for me I guess.

"Your shoulder needs to rest," He tells me. I know, but we don't have time.

"We don't have time," I reply impatiently. I scrap the herbs off and toss them deeper into the hallway. I look at the wound. My blood is lighter than usual.

"They don't need you right now," He says. I clench my teeth and grab a roll of nearby bandages. I turn my back and start to wrap my wound.

"Why do you feel like you deserve to be alone?" He asks. I pause.

"I'm tired of watching people suffer because of me," I respond truthfully and tie the bandage. I pull my shirt on.

"You're not keeping you're distance from them, you're only making them suffer more," He tells me. I clench me teeth.

"What else am I supposed to do then?" I ask and whip around to face him. "Ahh!" I scream as something moving slams onto my back. I reach my hands back and feel scales. It's a lizard. Kurogane grabs it off of me and I'm gone out the door. I breathe heavily and stare at the door.

"Are you okay?" Kurogane asks as he follows. I nod my head and I hear the others running toward us.

"What's wrong?" Syaoran asks breathlessly.

"A lizard got in. It's dead," Kurogane answers for me.

"Nakeitra, are you okay?" Syaoran asks.

"Yes," I answer and stalk away from the door. I'm tired of resting. All my life I've been told that I needed to rest more. I'll rest when my body lets me.

"Nakeitra, you should rest," Fia scolds.

"I'm tired of resting," I hiss without pause and hurry toward Matu. I look up at the sun. We have three, maybe four hours of sunlight left. Those mirrors must go somewhere. The sun is setting behind us, so maybe…I look at Matu closely. There are circles cut away in his hands. Maybe the mirrors are a way to concentrate the beams of sunlight.

"We found another mirror statue of a warrior," Sakura says softly from my right. I glance to her to see her pointing to the exact area across from the lady statue.

"Okay. I think the mirrors we found have to go on those two upper hands of Matu. There has to be a way to lower them. We should look along the upper levels for a switch or something," I say. She nods her head and runs off, probably to tell the others. I continue to look for a switch from down here.

_The switch is not a switch. The scales on the middle levels control the arms. Look up and right. Look up and left._

I did as the children said and found the browning scales. Now there was the question of how I was going to get up there. I could always use the way I used last time I guess. Sakura is back and this time she's with someone else.

"Nakietra, Tomoyo sent us something," Sakura said with an almost out of breath tone. I immediately turned to face her. How could she send us something? We haven't seen Tomoyo for…weeks at least. She can't send us anything.

"How?" I ask suspicious.

"Tomoyo gave it to me and said to hide it from you until we were in the next world. She said you would give it back otherwise," Mokona says happily. I would have given it back because Tomoyo gave away too many nice things. First, she gave me the dagger, and then these artifacts around my wrists, ankles, and waist to help me support more ruins. These are valuable things no matter what world you're in.

"She left you a note," Syaoran said holding out a folded piece of paper to me. I unfolded it to see Tomoyo's flourish writing.

_Dear Nakietra,_

_I'm sorry that I had to go behind your back, but I had my reasons. I'm sorry about Hiro and I will miss him almost as much as I will miss you. I will probably never see you again, so I insist that you keep everything in this bag. This letter was meant for you, and the other objects inside the bag are for your friends. _

_I noticed that you and two of your friends carry weapons but the other two don't. I placed a small knife for the Blond one so he won't be so defenseless. I hope he uses it. The bag itself is water proof by the way. That means you can put stuff inside and then go swimming with it if you really wanted. It might help if you plan on going artifact hunting just like you did with Hiro._

_The metallic belt is for your friend who jumped off the bridge. It's one of my company's inventions. We call it the "Grabble Belt". Point the center at a hook or ring and then press the button the right to shoot the hook. I thought it might help him if he decides to go jumping off bridges again so you won't have to save him._

_I will miss you Nakietra. Please stay safe and alive even if Hiro isn't by your side. Don't lose the will to live out your life because of one person's death. He wouldn't want to plan out your death. So long my friend._

_Tomoyo_

My eyes strained to read her tiny handwriting and I felt tears try to come through when I kept seeing Hiro's name. My death has been planned out since the day I was born. I wish I could tell her this, but I can't. Neither me or Hiro could bring her down like that.

"What does it say?" Kurogane asks.

"It just explains what's in the bag," I responds and kneeled down next to it. It's black and glistening. I gently take it from Mokona and unzipp it. First I pulled out the knife and hand it to Fia. It looked like a simple, iron dagger with a plain brown casing.

"This is for protection only. She thinks you look defenseless without a weapon," I tell him seriously. He hesitantly takes it. Next I took out the belt and handed it to Syaoran.

"She said this is a grabble belt. To use it you press the button on the right. You can use it to grab onto rings and stuff," I tell him while I folded up the bag. I handed it to Sakura.

"It's waterproof. You should keep it somewhere safe." I met her gaze and see her nod her head before I pushed myself up. "We need to find a way to each of those scales," I pointed up to them, "So we can lower those hands," I pointed to them, "and put the mirrors on them." I waited for questions.

"Could you use those stone hoops to get up there," Fia asked pointing to the eastern wall. I followed his figure and saw a stone hoop hanging off the wall.

"I can go up one and Syaoran can try going up the other," I said and this time waited for agreements. There were murmurs of agreement. On that note I gathered energy and focused it on my catch ruin while I walked closer to the wall.

"Be careful," Kurogane tells me quietly while he follows behind me. I nod toward the wall. I was prepared to leave when he placed a bag in front of my eyes. "Don't forget this," He says before dropping it. I grabbed it easily and shrug the straps. I'm not myself today I guess. I use the ruin and pull myself up.

I rolled over the edge and push myself up. I don't know where this energy kept coming from, but I keep running out of it. I feel my body slowly trying to rest but I'm not going to let it. A smooth wall runs up on all three sides with the scales in the middle. Around the wall is a walkway that is roofed and hidden mostly from view by columns. The scales themselves are much bigger than I had thought they were and hung several feet off the ground.

I don't see any way to climb onto them from the ground but the walkway was a good idea. I follow the walkway around, wiping my sweaty face with my shirt as I went, as I looked for a set of stairs since the walkway was also too high for me to climb on top of also. I found a set of broken steps and gratefully took them as I saw they were out of the sun.

While I followed the wrap around walkway, I keep thinking. The sun is hot in my home too. Sweat was a welcome, not an annoyance as it was now, and the sun is welcomed and not hated. Never did it affect me as it is now, making me light headed and hard of thinking.

Now I'm even with the scales. I jump on one and feel it sink while also the hand on the statue sinks. THe scale hits the ground. I jump off and run up the steps to the hand. It doesn't move but you never know if there's a times of something.

I pull the mirror out of my bag and carefully fit it into the hand. I don't look at myself inside it as I turn around and climb onto the high scale to raise the hand up.

I watched as the sun caught the mirror and then a straight beam of light shot down to a place on the ground. Now we knew where to put the statues. I climbed off the scale when it stopped at halfway and then let myself back down to the courtyard.

"We have to get the statues to reflect the beams of light," I tell Kurogane as I stand on steady ground. My breathing is heavy and my body defiantly doesn't feel steady.

"You should rest. We can handle it from here," He says. I stare up at him and remember how disapprovingly he always looks at me. I don't say anything as I go back to the hallway to lie down with Nero. I can defiantly use the sleep.

Nero sent me feelings of symphony for my situation. Wolves were bold creatures who didn't like looking helpless or asking for help at times. They also didn't like to be looked at with pity or helplessness. I wrapped my arms around his neck and fell asleep on his flank. I miss being home. At least there I know the pity from everyone because I've always felt it. Here, this is a new kind of pity.

"Nake, the door is open," Fai whispered very loudly into my ear. I felt him rough shaking me and that's when I moaned. I pushed myself up and propelled myself out the door without a word. We don't have time for me to be sleeping. I want to get out of here as soon as possible.

Matu's arms were extended now to reveal a hole. As I drew closer I saw five huge steps leading down to a small arch. The steps involved climbing or jumping to get down them, but it could be worse of course. I look at the sun. We still have a few hours I guess, but we should still hurry. I don't want to be in this place at dark. I carefully lower myself down each step to listen to a discussion between Sakura and Syaoran.

"What's going on?" I ask even though I can clearly see it. It's a square hole in the ground. I get closer to it and look down. It's very deep and directly below it is a spiked pit. There must be something else here that we can't see.

"The feather is through this hole but we can't figure how to get down there without getting hurt," Syaoran said frustrated. Kurogane was looking down into the hole across from me, but didn't look much more hopeful. He looked up at me.

"There's a hook on the ceiling though," Sakura says. The boys look at her with sharp glances. It seems they didn't want me knowing about this. I drop down on my belly and look down from Kurogane's angle. There were some hand holds down to where it cuts away at six feet, but once you grabbed the last one there would be no way back up. Your body would be dangling in the air by then. It's entirely possible though that I could go down there alone or I could swing on my energy rope and safely grab the boys and drop them when were closest to the ground. It would be easier with just me though.

"I could use a ruin and catch anyone who wants to come down and drop them in a safe spot. I wouldn't be able to catch Nero though. It would be easier if I just went alone," I suggest. I can't believe I'm telling them what I plan to do

"That's dangerous," Kurogane says seriously. I glare at him. I've never been one for being safe before, so why should it matter now.

"Me and Sakura could stay, and Syaoran and Kuro-pi could go with you," Fai suggested very happily.

"Let's get going then," I say and push myself up. I tell Fai for him and Sakura to stay in here along with Nero. The place will close up when the sun goes down anyways. Sakura prepares a bag for us, Tomoyo's bag, and hands it to me. I tell her to wait for us for two days before assuming we're dead. She got upset when I said that so I left her alone. The children said we can't go back up through this hole, but there's another route I could take back.

Syaoran dropped down first with Sakura's bag with him. Then Kurogane game down also. Both landed on their feet. I didn't. My body was weaker than before after I released the ruin and I slid across the floor.

"Here," Kurogane says and offers me his hand while Syaoran looks around. I look up at him and take a deep breath. I'm too tired to act tough.

"Thank you," I mutter and take his hand. I breathe in sharply as he pulls on my shoulder but the pain passes after a while. Syaoran is staring at the only door in the room. It's a double door that is probably fifteen feet tall. Over the doors are elaborate carvings of vines that converge toward the middle there is a heard with thorns encased inside it. I feel it pull me towards it

_Place you hand on the heart. It will only open for you._

"Nake?" Syaoran asks as I reach for the door. My fingers touch first and then my palm. I breath in as I feel something stir in me. My head looks down and I watch golden light drain from my arm and into the door. I look up as the door opens.

"H-how?" Syaoran asks surprised. I look into the decayed sunlight room.

"You're here! Our mistress! Please save us!" Three distinctive children's voices yell. I take a step forward into the light.


	10. The End of the Temple

Kurogane drew his sword at the first sound of the voices. His eyes flickered around the inside of the room and then he watched Nakietra take a step forward. He pulled her behind him and looked around the room. He knew that things were never as they appeared when Nakietra's skin turned golden in any way. It always meant trouble.

"Show yourselves," He commanded. He knew that just because they sounded like children, that didn't mean they were children.

**Nakietra**

I blink a few times and shake my head. My head feels strange but there's nothing wrong. I step sideways and look around Kurogane. I don't see any trouble. The room is like a hollow shell. In front of us is a bridge that goes to a pedestal with ample room around it. The rest of the room is decorated in elaborately carved walls and three other doorways. Two are collapsed but one is still useable. I look up and see a dome like ceiling with a hole in the middle to purposely let in sunlight over the pedestal. I look over the bridge and see and see and lose rock ground. This must have been filled with water at some point. I close my eyes and imagine it. The image is very beautiful once I remove the moss and environmental damage to the walls.

"We are your power," A shy girlish voice said. I open my eyes and look at the lights.

"We were once part of the Rie, your knife," A young boy's voice said. The light in the middle lit up in perfect sync with the words. I was amazed. These were the voices.

"Free us Mistress. We will make the Rie strong again, just like before," An impatient sounding girl says. She was the one on the right. Kurogane wasn't moving really.

"These lights saved our lives," I say and push past him quick enough to avoid being held back by him. Syaoran follows. I slowed down near the pedestal. I can see the feather, floating right above them. I can now see the shield that the feather has created to keep the lights trapped. No wonder they didn't just fly up to us at first.

"Whoa," Syaoran exclaims. I look back and I see what he means. The bridge is lifeless stone, except where I'm standing. It's lit up with golden energy around me, illuminating a pattern or sharply curved half-moons winding in and out of each other. I look back to the lights.

"Why aren't you part of the knife anymore?" I ask cautiously. I head Kurogane swear under his breath and sheath his sword. He shouldn't care about what happens to me.

"She separated us Mistress," The boy says in a hurt voice.

"She tore us from our home," The final one says meekly.

"And trapped us here," The impatient one say harshly. I slowly nod my head. Who are they talking about though? And what is there connection to the knife? Were they spirits forged into it with black magic, or were they something else.

"Who is she?" Syaoran asked and came up next to me.

"The witch," They hissed. I look down. There are many witches. Which ones are powerful enough to strip a magical weapon of its power though? I'm not sure.

"How do we free you?" I ask. If they used to be part of the knife, then maybe they can help me understand it. Some many times I've felt like there is something there that I should be understanding but I can't for some reason. My curiously was never a good thing Hiro said. He was right and that's why I've tried to get rid of it.

"Remove the feather and the shield will break," The shy one says. I stare at the feather. Who would understand the feather's enough to know how to manipulate it to this extent?

"How do we know you won't kill us?" Kurogane asks. I don't question it. He was always the careful one.

"This place was built for you Mistress; for the bearer of Rie. Just as all the temple were before this one. Everything has always been done for Rie's keeper," The boy says cryptically. I closed my eyes and remembered the temple. I remembered how easily they're destroyed nature would fade in my mind and I would see them as they used to be.

"Syaoran, grab the feather and put it in the bag," I tell him and open my eyes. I pull out my knife and stare at it for a moment. I remembered how when I first got it, my vision swam and I saw it covered in deep careful marks that made it look much more beautiful in the light as the rivets turned blacker than blood. There were no marks on it that I could ever see.

"How did you save us?" Kurogane asks sharply. Syaoran hesitates.

"They told me what to do when we fell…Syaoran, the feather," I tell him again, completely ignoring Kurogane. Syaoran reached forward and quickly grabbed the feather. The barrier disappeared immediacy and the light dispersed. I didn't lose track of the spirits though. They flew straight up and then danced around the room. I put my knife away and watched them. Soon they gathered against the dark stone over the door we came in.

"We are free," They rejoice happily. Pain pulses from my wound and through my body. I need to rest again.

"How do we get out of here?" I ask quickly.

"First, draw this," The boy says and circled a ruin on the wall. Another spirit touched the ruin and it lit up gold. I breathed in. I've never seen anything like this before.

"What does it do?" I ask before starting to carve it into my skin. I completely trust these spirits. I've never found a bad ruin, and I doubt they exist at all.

"It gives strength," The shy one explains from behind me. I carved three into my arms and felt a massive drain almost immediately. I stagger and grab onto the pedestal for support. All three spirits dance in my view and came to rest between the gazes of all three of us.

"It drains a lot of energy from you," The impatient one says like I'm stupid. All three spirits approach the knife in my hand, and I watched with amazement as they carved glowing runes into the knife's blade. Slowly, I felt my power return as the ruins cool. I don't recognize them, but maybe I'm not supposed to.

"We will help you again Mistress. Just as we always have," A single mixed voice came.

"Will you always be able to talk?" Syaoran asks. He must have put it together too that they must be one person rather than three.

"Only in places like this can you, puppet boy, hear us. Our Mistress will always hear us though for we are her weapon," The voice came. I continued to stare at the knife as I continue to fell energy return to my body. I don't understand it.

"How do we get out of here?" Kurogane asks. I snap away from my questions and remind myself that we have to leave

"Look across from the stone way," The voice says. For a second I didn't know what they were saying. Then I realized they must mean the bridge. Kurogane seemed to understand right away and was already looking the opposite way along with Syaoran. I saw the closed door….across a huge gate that I can't possible jump.

"How do we get over there?" Kurogane asks gruffly.

"Mistress must climb down the opposite side and shift the stone way. Then she must open the door. Through there is a pool of water. Underneath it is a door that must be opened with the switch across the way. Follow the waterway and you will come to another door. Turn twice to the right, once to the left, pull and it will open. Find the mountain hold and climb the rocks. Follow the temple ruins and you will come to the above. Mistress knows the way from there," The voice explains. I'm not going to remember any of that.

"Will you will remind us as we go?" I ask.

"We will remind mistress. It is her choice to tell others," It says. It's no longer male or female, or even separate. Now it's just a voice. It's an It.

"Where are you supposed to climb down?" Syaoran asks looking over the edge by the walkway. I join him and look down to see a circular walkway below. It's very thin but I should be able to move around it easily. I follow the walkway around the circular landing and find a stone ladder built into the stone. I turn around and started my descent down.

"I'll be back," I say tiredly. Why couldn't there be a simpler way to get anywhere in this temple? I hate temples.

"Is this the quickest way to the courtyard?" Kurogane asks loudly downward.

"The one that is passable, yes," It says, echoing throughout the room. I follow the walkway to the bridge. I know how to move it at least.

"When it's in place, tell me," I yell up to Syaoran. He nods his head. I sent power to the new ruin and feel strength surge through me. I put both hands on the walkways and push. It moves easily.

"Stop!" Syaoran yells from above. I remove my hands and cut the energy fast. My arms hurt a little, but that's the only side effect I can see. I find the ladder and climb back up. As I pull myself over the edge, I lie on my side and wait. Breathing is painful because of wound and my body is not wanting to help me at all now.

"Here," Kurogane says, "We should keep going." I see him offer me his hand. I take it and let him pull me up. Syaoran is already examining the new door. This one is covered in ancient writing along with two faded pictures. I see blue and purple, but I can't tell what the picture was at all. I close my eyes and see a picture blue background and giant purple spiders with menacing faces. The spiders are trying to get into something that looks like this room, but they can't for some reason. I open my eyes and put my and in the center.

The door opens and in front of us is a pool of greenish-blue water.

_What do we do now?_

"_Pull the switch on the other side down and the door beneath will open," The voice responds._

I sigh. I pulled off my sandals but left my knife on. I don't have any other clothes and now would not be a good time to swim naked in front of them. I jump in. The water was cool and shocked my tired brain fast into working mode. I came up for air and went to the opposite ledge. I put my hands on top and tried to pull myself up. It wasn't working. The ledge is longer than my arms. I took a deep breath and pushed myself to the bottom. I kicked off and blindly grabbed for the ledge. I missed three times. Why can't anything be easy? Why is everything becoming so hard all of a sudden? Why is everything being left up to me to do?

"Do you need help?" Syaoran asks hesitantly. I float on my back and looked at the almost collapsed celling. I won't cry because things are difficult. I'm tired of crying because life is hard. I won't cry in front of these two because if I do, I'm no better than Sakura.

"Yes," I say. I hear them jump right away then. Both of them want to help me, and I have a ways I think. I swim to the ledge and wait for them. I remember swimming with Hiro and Toya at the lake during the hot summer months. I closed my eyes as I remembered the time me and Toya swam under water and pull Hiro ankles so he would fall. My heart beat with pain. I'll never see Hiro again, and Toya….I hope he thinks I'm dead.

"We'll push you up," Kurogane says right next to me. I open my eyes and each up to grab onto the high ledge. I felt them both push me up by my hips higher than I was able to get out of any of my own tries. I locked my elbows over the edge and pulled the rest of my body up. Dust stuck to my body as I got my feet and I hated it. I saw the lever and I pulled it down. It made three loud clicks and I felt the door move underwater.

"Nakietra, Sakura put goggles in the bag," Syaoran shouts and throws a pair over to me. I see him putting my few things into the bag. I'm grateful at least. I pick up the goggles and wash them off in the water before putting them on. Kurogane and Syaoran disappear through the door and I follow. Syaoran has a flashlight I see which is good because its pitch black here. It's also cold, very cold. This water hasn't been touched in centuries, I can tell.

The tunnel drew on and on with an endless amount of air pockets. I started counting them at some point but I stopped at around ten when my shoulder started to give me trouble. It's stiffening because of the water, but it's also getting worse. The pain is back. I'm glad the water is cold because at least I don't feel the burning as much.

"Are you okay?" Syaoran asks after I broke the surface of an air pocket. They were waiting for me for a while I knew. I've been steadily falling behind because of my shoulder. The rest of my body isn't much help either I guess.

"Just keep going," I say quickly and dive down. The boys don't try to stop me as they take the lead. In Syaoran's light I see Kurogane look at me. I purse my lips and ignore it. I don't need to feel more useless today than I already feel.

_How much farther?_

"_You are close to the door Mistress. Remember, twice to the right and once to the left and then pull."_

Then I saw the door. It was ringed in wavy circles that made me think of snakes. Syaoran was trying to turn it to the left, which wasn't working. I swam up and shooed him away. I easily turned the wheel twice around to the right and then once around to the left before pulling it toward me. The tunnel rumbled and the door opened in front of us. Outside was a vast expansion of water. I swam to the surface and was immediately overcome with crashing waves. I took a quick breath before ducking down and coming up again stronger to look around. We're being pushed into the rocky walls. A huge wave picks me up and crashes me against the wall. My back and head crack before I push myself off the wall underwater where the waves are calmer.

"_Danger mistress! Find the mountain foothold in front of you! Get out! The blood fish come!"_

Panic rose in my throat. I rise up and look around. I see a stone platform that was a few inches underwater. I swim toward it and pull myself up. I look back and see the boys following. I don't know what blood fish are, but they sound dangerous. I look at the wall here. I better start climbing, there isn't much room to stand here and fight the waves at the same time.

"_Climb the walls Mistress! Hurry!"_

I know already. I climb up high enough until I find a place I can look back. Kurogane is a few feet up and Syaoran is climbing out of the water. I look around the water. I don't understand what the spirits are talking about.

"Syaoran move!" I yell. They're sharks. Three are heading here. Syaoran laches on the wall and hurries up. A shark just misses his leg as it smashes into the wall. I take a few shaky breathes and continue climbing. That was too close. Syaoran's too young to die, way too young.

We were on steady ground now, but it was hard to tell the difference between anything. There was only one old path to follow, but every standing section of temple looked exactly the same. A few times I thought we were in the hallways after we encountered the tigers, but I was wrong because then we would come out into a jungle engrossed room. We didn't see any lizards or spiders though thankfully.

Time passed. I don't know how much. Everything on me was burning. I couldn't move my right arm at all as it tingled with constant pain just like the wound in my chest. Everything else just ached. Something is wrong though with my arm. It didn't feel like a torn muscle or dislocation. It just felt painful.

Kurogane became my Nero at some time as the light was turning orange. I could barely walk without staggering on my own. I wouldn't let him carry me though and I wouldn't let him make us stop. I wanted to get out of here. I hate when we spend nights out in the open because then I can't hide from the nightmares.

The light is gone when I let Kurogane stop us. He takes us to a small clearing with shorter grass. I don't know why it's like that. I can't think. He stops me from letting myself fall to the ground and lets me lie on the grass. It's so comfortable. Syaoran is gone and I just focus on breathing. It's harder to get any air now that we've stopped.

"Drink," Kurogane says. I drink the water he gives me. I'm not thirsty but I drink it so he'll leave me alone. I'm tired. I need sleep. I breathe in. My lung burn. I breathe out, my lungs ache. I need my medicine. I didn't bring it with me though. I hide my face in my good arm. I cry then. It's too much.

"Are you okay?" He asks as he takes a seat beside me. I hide my face deeper and shake my head no. There are silent moments. He picks up my head and puts it on his leg. That's feels better than the ground for me. I cry and then I'm asleep.

**Kurogane**

I don't ask her why she's crying. She doesn't want me to ask, she doesn't want any of us, especially me, to care. Fai is more annoying to her with his questions, but his are innocent. My questions make her think and they hurt her. I should know not to ask her anything anymore. It's hard to watch the boy try to do everything on his own even worse than before she came. It's harder to watch the princess worry and cry because of Nakietra's attitude though. None of us like that.

I watch Syaoran gather the firewood. I don't want him to disappear from my sight. We know there are tigers in the area, and then the spiders and lizards too. All three are dangerous and Nakietra is a liability right at this moment. She's completely out of it. She deserves the rest after everything today. Those ruins are hard on her body even with those charms of Tomoyo's.

Syaoran comes back and starts a fire. He better hurry. The sun is fading faster than in any other world. I listen to Nakietra's ragged breathes. I don't know how to help her except to let her sleep for now. She hasn't been herself since she started showing her face to us. She's forgetful and less observant. I don't think she would remember to bring the medicine she used last time. The sounds of birds and insects filled the silence as night fell and Syaoran lit the fire. I watch it for a few moments and then unhook my sword from my belt. I'd rather have it in front of me now.

"Did Sakura pack any food?" I ask him from across the small fire. Cold was settling in and I know it's going to be a harsh night for us. He looks up with dull eyes and then turns to the bag before going through it. He pulls out a plastic container and peeked inside.

"Sandwiches," He says and takes one before passing one to me. We eat in silence. I don't wake Nakietra. Her body is weak to the point where sleep will only help her. I don't know what will happen if she doesn't get her medicine. If she's as bad tomorrow as she was today, she won't survive the trip back at the way she's forcing herself. I ask Syaoran to give me the bag.

I look around. I see my shirt and I take it out. We haven't seen any bugs, but I've heard them. I pull on my shirt and look through it again. There's a little more food and then I see it. I don't know if Sakura knows about the medicine, but Nero does and I know he's very smart. I take out the black padded case and open it.

"Go sleep. I'll keep watch," I tell Syaoran. He nods his head before lying down on the grass and falling asleep. There are only two vials filled this time instead of four. I take one and carefully uncork it. I shift her face up and drip it into her mouth. Nakietra wants this to be a secret even if it isn't a secret anymore. I'll let her do what she wants for now. I can see that she isn't the type of person who will change because you tell them to. I return the empty vial and let her sleep. Her breathing gets easier and I relax. I hope she's better tomorrow.

"Kurogane, it's morning," Syaoran said as he shakes the man. He opens his sleepy eyes before pushing himself up. Nakietra is still lying on top of his leg just as he left her during the night. Before Syaoran could wake her, Kurogane took her head and carefully placed it on the ground. Syaoran watched as Kurogane picked up his sword and moved a few feet away before trying to wake her. Nakietra has hit people who have tried to wake her up before. She's always looked scared though and apologizes but it's still painful and unpredictable.

"Nakietra, it's morning," he said shaking her slightly. There was a slight moan from her before she opened her eyes. She rolled over before she opened and rubbed her eyes. She didn't make a move to get up just yet though. Syaoran got up and picked up the black bag.

"We should get moving," Nakietra suddenly said and got to her feet just as Kurogane was getting up and stretching the sleep from his muscles. It was mid-morning when they came to the same wall that they had appeared before in the beginning of their journey here. For a long time, the boys started at Nakietra while she stared at the wall.

**Nakietra**

The spider bodies from the day before are still lying all over the courtyard. I walk up to the pit and look down. It still looks dark and it still feels evil. I don't want to climb the wall again since my shoulder is more in pain than it had been the day before. I have to though.

"I'll climb the wall and fix the lift at the top. Wait here," I say as I walk back to them. I turn around and take a running leap. This time I'm able to grab it with both hands but my legs feel tired and unresponsive.

I hear the sound of running feet and I stop. I looked behind me. My eyes widen as I see Syaoran take a running leap at the wall. My chest turns to stop as Syaoran barely grabs the wall with one hand. I relax and put my burning forehead against the wall. That stupid child.

My head snaps up to more running feet. Kurogane jumps too and makes it with both hands. My chest is tight and its hard to breath. I keep climbing to make it go away. Why do these people do the stupidest things? Why do I care about people anymore? All they do is worry and cause worry…

I climb over the ledge and crawl a few feet before lying far away from the spider bodies that were still here. I watch the boys climb over one by one and I wait while I think of something to say. I'm mad I know though. I'm mad that they made me worry.

"Why did you two do that?" I ask them as I get to my feet. "You both could have easily missed and died, do you understand that? There's a reason I said I would do it," I say in a calm voice. I'm angry, but my body is too tired to sound angry. They stand tall in front of me.

"We thought it would be easier for you if we climbed," Syaoran responds. I stare at him and then turn around to start walking. I hate that. I hate being the reason behind people's stupid choices. I rub my eyes as my face twists in pain. The tingling pain is back in my arm and it's worse than before. I only need to twitch my fingers to make pain go shooting up my arm.

_Why do I feel so weak?_

"_The poison spreads. We cannot stop it, but we can hamper it."_

Poison…Wait, POISON! That's really bad. I didn't think spiders that big could be poisioness because—

Fai knew though. Those herbs he used are meant to draw poison out of a wound. He knew I was poisoned by the spiders, but he didn't tell me because….because he thought I knew. I never let them take care of me, I'm the one knows more about healing than any of them and yet my brain didn't register any of this.

I stared at the broken bridge. Sweat is pouring down my face and I feel like I'm being cooked alive. Slowly I lower myself to the ground with a thud and draw a Rebuild Ruin. Kurogane and Syaoran join me on the ground but they don't say anything. I put my knife away and wait. Kurogane throws me the canteen. I pour the water over my head and feel my body shiver like crazy. My fever is too high to handle anything cold. Cold will send my body into shock at this point and could kill me.

"We still have a long way to go," Syaoran remarks.

"We know where we are though," I say. I take a few deep breaths as the shivering stops. I push myself up and start my ruin. The middle of the bridge is weak I can see, but the edges are thick.

"Keep to the edges," I warn and take the left side while they take the right. This is too hard to keep up. I'd rather collapse on the other side though than give up now. My energy cuts away halfway and I'm falling.

"_The poison is too strong. We can't hold it back anymore."_

I couldn't move at all. My body slammed into everything; wooden support beams, stone ledges, collapsed columns. I hit the ground and then it was all gone.

**Kurogane**

"Nakietra!" Syaoran keeps calling. I know she can't respond. I groan and start making my way down. I fell farther before catching myself. Syaoran caught himself right away though. At least he's not hurt. Nakietra defiantly is. I watched her fall. She was out of it before she hit the ground or she would have tried to stop herself from falling. She fell on her back in the middle of the stream. It's shallow enough for her not to drown.

"Damn it," I mutter and run to her as I hit the ground. The water is warm as I drag her out. I look along her neck for a pulse. It's weak, but it's still there.

"Nakietra wake up," I say as I press along her arms and legs for broken bones.

"_Swordsman! Save Mistress! The poison is strong in her shoulder!"_

"Is she okay?" Syaoran asks loudly as he drops to the ground. I blink twice. What did I just hear? It had to be those spirits, but how. I pull the bandages away from her wound. Green puss bubbles out ino the air and sizzles. The wound itself is purple and the veins in her purple skin are black. My teeth clench at the sight and I quickly cover it back up before the kid comes over.

I pick her up and move to a shady part under a barely standing overhang. Her skin is like fire and her face is covered in sweat. We need to do something.

"What do we do?" Syaoran asks seriously when I set her down. He's not scared or worried, just ready to do something. First I need to figure out what to do.

"_Clear the poison. Wrap the wound. Cool her down. Get her to the man in white."_

"Fill up the canteen," I tell Syaoran before pulling the dirty bandages away. I hear the bag unzip and then hit the ground as he goes to the stream. I shift her shirt down and then look through the bag for bandages. Sakura always makes sure we have something to use. I find bandages in a first aid kit. I also find a bottle labeled "Anti-Venom".

"_It will help, but it will not defeat"_

I keep the bottle out and pushed the case away. Syaoran hands me the canteen. I don't want him to see the wound. Even for me it's almost too much. He's too much of a kid to not be effected by it.

"Go look for another way up," I tell him. I wait til he runs away to clean the wound. I clear the puss away and then splash the anti-venom on it. Nothing happens immediately, but still I wrap it lightly.

"_Get our mistress to your man in white. Only he can truly save her."_

That has to be Fai because only he wears white. I still need to cool her off first. I loosely wrap the bandage roll around my hand a couple times and the soaked it in water. I placed it on her head and saw a shiver run through her. I put three more on her feet and the back of her neck. This was a trick Nakietra had taught us when Sakura had collapsed from heat stroke once. I hope it works for fevers. I see her shiver, but it has to be helping though. The bandages heat up fast.

"I think I found a way!" Syaoran shouts from a place or ruin. I leave Nakietra and hurry over. She needs help fast.

"Show me," I tell him. He walks to the base of a staircase. We go up the stairs and see another broken bridge. This one is more intact, but there's no way we're going to be able to carry Nakietra across without killing ourselves as well.

"We would have to climb up," I tell him a little doubtful. The bridge only goes to a broken doorway with a climbable wall up to the temple.

"You can push me up and then we can make a hammock so I can pull Nakietra up. Then I can help you up somehow," He says not so confident. What other choice do we have though? I close my eyes.

"What can we make a hammock out of?" I ask him. He pauses and then darts off. I didn't try to stop him. I went back to Nakietra and rewet the bandages. They were almost as hot as her now. I touched her skin though and it was cooling just a little. I put everything away and waited for Syaoran.

I saw him again a few minutes later; a huge leaf draping over his head and a coil of vine hanging from his hand. Wordlessly he drops the supplies in front of me and I carefully examined the leaf by trying to rip it. Despite it being so fragile looking, it was surprisingly tough to bend, rip, or break in any way.

"This can work," I say cautiously and then examined the vine. I tug and pulled at it and it doesn't break. I look up at the expecting Syaoran and nod my head. We build our rough hammock. Soon we were standing in front of the collapsed door, and even sooner did we have Nakietra in the hammock safely at the temple doorway

"How far away do you think we are?" Syaoran asks after we've walked through the hallways for a little bit.

"We aren't close," I answer and shift Nakietra. We draped her across my back to make it easier for me. If she does manage to wake up, I doubt she'll hate it as much So far she hadn't made a sound though. Her breathing is shallow and her skin is hotter than before. We should warn the others and have them be ready I think.

"Go run ahead to the others," I tell Syaoran.

"What if those things come?" He asks.

"I can fight," I answer, "Make sure everyone is okay, and tell Fai what's happened."

"What has happened?" He asks me.

"Nakietra's hurt and unconscious," I respond, "Go." It was a long time before Syaoran came back.

"I told the others. It isn't far from here," He says breathless. I nod my head and keep walking. I don't say anything. I feel like she's going to die. My hands clench. I couldn't save my mother, and I couldn't save my father. I'm just as useless now as I was then. She has several broken ribs though, I can't run.

We turn another few corners and there's the doorway to the courtyard. I hear sounds of fighting then. We move to the edge and look down. Nero is snarling and standing in front of Sakura. The lizards are back and the door under the statue is closed. Fai grunted as one slammed into him. I clench my teeth. We have to get down there.

"Sakura!" Syaoran calls and she look up at him with hope. I open my mouth to tell him not to, but he's already made his careful jump down onto the ruined platform where they were cornered.

"_Our mistress wants us to help. Step off the edge, we will help you."_

Reluctantly I went to the area with the ruined platform and stepped off, ready to pull myself back. I felt my fall slow down and soon I made a gentle touch down. I breath out, amazed. How?

"Mokona, Get us out of here!" I say right away as I draw my sword. There's much more of them than there was last time. We won't last. I balance Nakietra with one hand and killed one lizard that got close.

Mokona is ready. I kill one more than then we're gone. We're calmly all separate in the in-between world. Syaoran pulls Sakura to his side and hold her securely. I grab Nakietra as she floats by and holds her. When we land, the last thing she'll need is to be crushed or almost killed. As much as does stupid things, she doesn't deserve half the things that are forced onto her.


	11. To Nearly Die

The landing was rougher than usual. Syaoran barely landed on his feet with Sakura, but then the forceful wind that's constant in this land threw them into the snow. A few moments later, Mokona was thrown onto them by the wind and managed to not get swept away from grabbing onto Sakura's dress. Nero slid across the snow and then once he had a moment, he dug his paws deep into the snow and hunkered down. The plain they were on was extremely dangerous to be on and the snow whipping around them made visibility very bad. Kurogane managed the best out of everyone. He landed on his feet and stayed that way with Nakietra's hot body pressed against his. Although, Fai then came out and crashed into him. Nakietra was thrown from his arms and then Fai was comfortable on him.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Syaoran questioned as he helped the princess to her feet. The wind was trying to blow he down again, but she was managing even though she was extremely cold. She nodded her head that she was find but rubbed her shoulders.

"It's cold!" Mokona exclaimed as he clinged to Sakura's dress to stay upright. He threw out everyone's warmer clothes in a pile. Syaoran let go of Sakura and retrieved her cloak. He wrapped it around her and then went to grab his.

"Get off me!" Kurogane yelled after Fia didn't get up in a timely fashion. Fai rolled onto the snow and complained like a child but no one cared. Syaoran picked up Kurogane's cloak and Nakietra's before moving over to her. He wrapped it around Nakietra and soon Kurogane had his on as well.

Nero ran with the wind to his bond. His nose traveled over her body and stopped over the shoulder where her wound was. He whined and looked to the others before nudging her head with his nose. She didn't respond. Kurogane helped Syaoran wrap Nakietra's cloak around her and then picked her up so she wasn't lying in the snow.

Sakura came over to them looking very worried. She stared at Nakietra and her face scrunched up in worry. They all knew about Nakietra's black cloak. She was so careful with it and wouldn't let it touch snow, water, or every the trees. She said her grandmother had made it for her when she traveled before. It was pitch black on the outside, but on the inside were designs in shimmery silver thread. She said they were two patterns over lapping each other. One meant prayer and the other meant safety.

"What happened?" Fai asked seriously now as he got up. Kurogane faced the man with a very serious expression on his face.

"She was poisoned. She said you could help her," Kurogane told him. Fai wasn't smiling.

"We should set up camp first and then I'll take care of her," Fai said before even touching her. They moved to the trees, away from the plains. The wind was quieter here and much less rough. Syaoran went right to work. He found a flat place for the tent and then found a nearby area to build a fire pit. He grabbed a shovel and started digging into the snow with Sakura helping.

Kurogane had no choice but to set Nakietra near Sakura. "Watch her," He said to her and moved on to do his own work. It was always his job to set up the solar heated tent. They had gotten it from a very grateful family when Nakietra saved their little girl from drowning. Nakietra never told the family that their little girl had tried to commit suicide or that she had helped the child cope by teaching her how to sew from patterns.

Once the base of the fire pit was done, Syaoran abandoned it to Sakura and Mokona who both took turns smoothing out the edges and making it bigger. Fai tended to Nakietra with a very worried look on his face. Syaoran tried not to look as he took a collapsible axe and went hunting for firewood. Nero even helped for once by straightening out the tent for Kurogane as he filled up the bottom air cushion and punched in the stakes.

Fai did what he could for Nakietra. He learned from her a lot of things over their time traveling. He hoped he was doing it right at least. He sucked the remaining poison from the wound and then injected a very specific anti-venom for tropical spiders into her veins. He didn't think her wound was that serious the first and second times he looked at it. Actually, he assumed she had already done what he had just did, but he knows now that she didn't. He should have asked her he realized.

Her fever was dropping rapidly though. Her face went from flushed to pale and her breathing became rapid. As soon as the tent was ready, he put her inside and asked Mokona for every cover available to keep her warm as she started shaking. He didn't make any jokes when he came out or even said anything as he took his seat by the fire. This was one of the most serious situations they'd ever been in and he knew it.

As night started to settle in, jobs were slowly finished. Wood was stacked into a decent pile for the night, dinner was made and eaten, and snow was readily available to be melted and purified. No one asked about the feather at all, even as they sat around the fire. An empty space on the ground was left open where Nero and Nakietra usually sat together. It felt like a hole to not have her there because even though she would never say much, it was certain she was always listening as she wrote in her big leather book.

"Will she be okay?" Kurogane finally asked as he watched Fai take his place in the circle.

"I don't know," Fia answered truthfully, his face turned to the sky. Even though he teased Nakietra to the point of tears at times, he did see her as a friend. Not a good friend, but he knew that if he was dying in any way she would do anything to save him no matter what he's said in the past because that's the kind of person she is…he knows she's a better person than he could even be. She never insulted him in any personal way even though her comments to him told him that she noticed more about him than most of the group. She was always the first to rush into danger when it came to a crumbling building. She was always the one who tried to keep Syaoran out of danger.

"She got hurt because of me," Sakura said as tears slipped from her eyes. She stared into the fire as they rolled down her face and almost froze from the cold. She had always stood from the sidelines when it came to fighting. Syaoran always got hurt for her, but when it happened to Nakietra…it was somehow worse. It made her feel so useless and guilty when she watched Nakietra fight anything and everything to protect her or to get the feather.

She closed her eyes. On their first journey together, she watched Nakietra's arm get shredded by living, thorned vines as she retrieved the feather that had been hidden beneath the beautifully deadly roses. She always remembered that the most because whenever she say Nakietra's bare arm, there were scars from the vines because the flesh was cut so deeply.

Sakura put her head in her hands. Nakietra has never trusted any of them….and yet she obviously cared. Why? She doesn't understand it. Nakietra has always cared, every single time When Sakura cries for her, Nakietra always looks sad too. She always looks down with her back straight and then she brushes Sakura's hair and tells her it's alright. Sakura can't understand why she does this!

"Sakura," Syaoran said calmingly and put an arm around her shoulder, his own eyes glistening a little as he watched his princess cry. He never understood Nakietra. There have been times when Nakietra has acted like a sister to him. Scolding him when he does something stupid and wrapping his wounds and telling him her own moments of stupidity when they were alone. Then there are times when she's cold, almost like death the ways she glares at him when he touches her or when he tries to talk to her.

Nakietra was like a sister to all of them actually. She comforted Sakura when she cried, she let Fai tease her, let Kurogane care for her, and then scolds him. Why does she do it? Why does she try to act cold when really she cares more about all of them than she ever does for herself? She's constantly trying to spare them hardship and pain even when it makes life so much more worse for her. Syaoran bowed his head as more tears spilled from his eyes. He really was reckless and stupid sometimes...but why was Nakietra like him when she didn't need to be?

"Fai Fai," Mokona murmured as he crawled into the blond man's lap and then underneath his soft, fur coat. Fia looked down with sad eyes and put a hand on the white puff as Mokona silently cried. Mokona understood Nakietra better than anyone else, but he was never allowed to talk about any of it. He's seen her leather book and knows exactly what it is and what's in it unlike the others. There have been nights where she didn't sleep at all and she would tell him story after story from the pictures in her book. The details she remembered were incredible and very lifelike just like her drawings…there was one person though, that she would never talk about. One man that appeared in almost every picture, especially the ones of her. She never explained who he was and Mokona never asked a second time. The first time he asked, she broke down crying and left him sitting at the fire all alone for the rest of the night.

All of them were acting like she was dead. It felt like it though. Nakietra was a constant. She was predictable at times and usually quiet. The fact that they still only knew bits and pieces about her, killed them inside. Even though it was she that pushed them away, they felt like it was their fault for not knowing anything. What about her family? Is her mother living? Dead? What about her father? What about Hiro?

Kurogane glanced around at all of them. He couldn't take it. Nakietra is alive, sleeping even in the tent. She's not dead and yet they're crying here like she is. He stood up and left. He knew at least one place where he wouldn't have to deal with this. He slid through the tent flap. No one said a word.

Nero's head shot up when the man came in, but he didn't move from his position curled around his friend's head. With sad eyes, the wolf put his head down and rested his cold nose on her cheek. She still had a slight fever but the covers were keeping her warm from the cold. Kurogane took off his snowy shoes near the door and crawled over to sit next to her. Above her, an electric lamp hung above to provide some light though Nero certainly didn't need it. Fai had set it up for everyone else though.

Kurogane stared at Nakietra's peaceful face, which was paler than usual. It was still tired looking, almost defeated, just like he's seen it the few nights she's slept in here with them. He clenched his teeth at the look and suddenly felt angry; angry at himself for not stopping her that is. She always pushed herself, always threw herself into danger just to spare them the inconvenience. Why? He sees it in her actions and in her eyes. She doesn't want them to care, but her actions tell them that she does. And then…He's never seen her look so defeated as she did when she was trying to keep moving forward in the jungle. Nero nudged his head more inwards toward his friend and looked at the man with almost a guilty expression.

"Don't look guilty. You didn't do anything," The man said gruffly as more emotions swirled inside of him.

**Kurogane**

It's calm in here. There's no overwhelming sadness, no pain, and no tears. Calm. It makes me angry how they're acting. Nakietra is alive, but only for now according to Fai. That idiot shouldn't have said that to the kid or the princess. It only made them worse.

No one caused Nakietra to get hurt, she did it to herself. She knew the dangers better than anyone else, but she waited until the last moment to worry about them. I couldn't have stopped her. Physically, I could have at least, but not mentally. No one can stop her from trying to do what she wants; we've all tired in our own ways.

I can't stop myself from staring at her eyes. I've seen her lie injured trough the past few worlds. She always opened her eyes when anyone was near her. She won't open this time I know. She's unconscious. I brush my fingers against her cheek. She still has a fever. Her eyes twitch under her closed lids. I wonder what she's seeing.

I look at Nero. He couldn't have stopped Nakietra either. Even though he knew about the poison, he can never stop her. I've watched him bite her because she was just thinking of doing something incredibly dangerous. I've watched him look away when she climbs crumbling buildings and trees just like she has a million times over. It's torture for him to see her in danger. I rub his head just like I've seen Nakietra do. He closes his eyes in torture. I take my hand away. He usually never lets me touch him…just like Nakietra.

He's in pain too. I hear his ragged breaths now and watch how he shifts his feet so suddenly like he's in pain. I close my eyes so I don't have to see. He's always been able to feel Nakietra's pain just like she can feel his. They've always been connected like this. I've never seen it before in any world we've ever went to. It makes them the perfect fighting pair though, perfectly in sync with every move it seems.

"Nero," I hear Nakietra whisper. I open my eyes and look down at her. It's hard to tell if she's starting to wake up or if she's having a dream. I don't know how she dreams, but I know she doesn't sleep much. Her hand twitches under the covers.

"Hiro," She whimpers softly as tears brush down her face. There was that name again…Hiro. She must miss him, whoever he is. I take her hand. She clutches it weakly.

"Don't…go…" she trails off and relaxes. I look at Nero. He's staring at me.

I remember Nakietra's conversation with Tomoyo. Hiro is dead, he traveled with her last time and they loved each other very much it seems. How long has he been gone for her to cry out to him still? I sigh. There are too many questions about her that I know she'll never answer. One is defiantly a priority though, who is the crazed prince? I always knew she was hiding something and he must be it. If he's a threat to us, I need to know.

I close my eyes again. If this prince killed Hiro, she won't tell me about either of them then. It's too painful for her to consider talking about. I open my eyes and look down at her face. I remember my mother and father. I couldn't talk about them to anyone, not even Tomoyo. I take my hand away from Nakietra's.

She's young enough to lose a loved one. She isn't dealing with the grief correctly though and it's killing her inside. There's no way for us to help her with that because none of us can ask the questions that she needs to admit the answers to. She's a warrior. Whoever trained her, taught her to be strong. Even the strongest crack under grief though, even I know that.

**Nakietra**

"_Hiro!" I scream with tears streaming down my face. Hiro is standing a few feet from me. I can't reach him no matter how fast or far I run._

"_Nakia, I'll wait for you. I promise you, I won't leave alone, but it's not your time. Our home and these people here need you more than you need me. YOU need them more than you need me. Save our home Nakia, save my Ira," Hiro says mournfully as he looks down at me. His eyes are so sad. He's wearing his training clothes. I swallow hard._

"_Don't leave me again! Please, don't go!" I yell, gasping for air as he continues to get farther and farther away from me._

"_I love you, my sister!" Hiro yells back as he disappears. Blackness crushes into me and I jolt awake as pain engulfs my arm._

"_Our mistress, awake. The poison is gone!" A collective voice broke painfully into my head._

I shift my body under the covers. The pain in my arm is intense, but it's nothing compared to the pain that shoots through my body every time I move. I breathed in sharply as my back paralyzes with pain. Nero moan behind me and then I feel him licking my face.

"Nero," I say softly as the pain fades away. I start to remember a little bit. I remember pain and then I remember falling. I remember seeing Hiro too. My eyes sting. Nero pushed his own version of the story into my head.

I see Syaoran appear over the edge of the upper floor over the courtyard. I don't see me, but I don't remember reaching the courtyard. Nero barks at him and then I see Sakura and Fia run across the courtyard to him. I hear them talk.

"_Nakietra's hurt," Syaoran say hurriedly, "She was poisoned."_

"_Where is she?" Fai asks immediately._

"_Back with Kurogane. He's bringing her here, I'll go get them," Syaoran says and disappears._

_L_izards come out from everywhere then. They push the statues out of alignment and close up the safe area under the statue. Chunks of fighting pass by quickly, and then I see Nero. He's backing up toward the ruined platform. He's fighting his best and trying to protect Sakura. Then it jumps. Now I see me. I'm unconscious in the snow, my face flushed and eyes sunken. Nero takes away the pictures then.

"I'm okay now Nero," I say and kiss his nose. Getting up is impossible with this pain. Nero carefully put his paws over me and lied down with his head against my neck. He's heavy, but it's a comfortable heaviness for now. I struggle to lift my arms up to wrap them around his neck. I'm glad he's alright.

**Kurogane**

Sleep would not come to me tonight. I kept having nightmares of waking up and finding Nakietra dead next to me or even undead. I don't know which was worse because in either nightmare she blamed me for her death. I didn't cause it, but I didn't stop her even though I could.

All of us always slept in a line. Usually Sakura slept next to Nakietra, but Syaoran had decided that Sakura should sleep as far away from Nakietra as possible. Syaoran also decided that either he or me should sleep next to her when we weren't keeping watch outside. Fai was all the way on the end though for once.

I opened my eyes and saw sunlight. There's no point in trying to go back to sleep at this point. Carefully, I push myself up and rub my eyes. I glance over to Nakietra. Her arms are wrapped around Nero and her eyes are staring up at the ceiling where there's a small plastic window. I turn to see her better. My body is sore from the lack to sleep.

Nero looks over at me first. His eyes are back to being cautious and untrustworthy. Nakietra then turns her head toward me also. Her eyes are sad. They don't change when they see me. I wonder if she remembers calling out for Hiro last night.

"How do you feel?" I ask softly. I don't want to wake the others yet.

"Hurt," She answers just as soft.

"Where?" I ask. If it's enough pain, I should wake Fai us. There could still be poison in her system.

"Everywhere," She answers. I twist around and shake Fai.

"What?" He asks sleepily and turns over, barely missing Sakura.

"Nakietra's awake," I answer. In a second, he's scrambling up, his blond hair sticking up in odd places on top his head. I shake my head and pull on my shoes. It's morning which means work.

"How do you feel?" Fai asks smiling. Nakietra didn't smile.

"Everything hurts when I move," She answers simply. Nero removes himself from her and stretches out the tent door as he follows Kurogane. Fai helped Nakietra sit up, which resulted in a lot of pain for her, and then also played with her right arm. It was completely un-useable and caused her the most pain whenever she even tried to twitch her finger. With a grim face, Fai laid her down and left also, leaving Nakietra to stare at the ceiling and think.

"How is she?" Syaoran asked as soon as Fai came out of the tent. Fai shook his hair out and tried to think of a response.

"I think there's still some poison in her arm and she's probably dehydrated," Fai responds. He sighs and takes out a pot from their cooking utensils. He pours some purified water into it and set it over the fire.

"What are you going to do then?" Syaoran asked. Kurogane sat in the snow, watching Fai but not saying anything.

"I'm going to make…soup," He answers finally and Syaoran just looks at him like he's joking.

"Why?" Kurogane asks because he knows Fai isn't joking.

"I can't do anything else. If I give her more anti-venom then it could kill her and I have no actual way to get the poison out of her veins without making her suffer from blood loss also at this point. The best I can do is get her to eat and drink," Fai said hopelessly. The boys stare at him for a little bit.

"Is she going to be okay?" Syaoran asks then.

"The worst that can happen now is she could lose her arm," Fai answers in a dishearten voice. Neither of the boys said anything to that. Both boys knew that if Nakietra lost her arm, there were going to be even more problems to deal with for everyone.

"There's a feather here!" Mokona exclaims. Breakfast was eaten and Nakietra was cared for now, but still everyone was on edge after learning that Nakietra could lose her arm.

"Where?" Kurogane wound up asking because Syaoran was at a loss for words.

"Mmmm….it's far that way," Mokona answers pointing South.

"It's too dangerous to move Nakietra right now. If there's still poison, it could spread from her arm back to her heard," Fai said as he stirred his bubbling orange mixture.

"I'll go get it by myself then," Syaoran said and got up from his seat beside Sakura. Worry flashed in her eyes as she looked up to him. Nero noticed and barked at Kurogane before roughly pushing the man from his seat.

"What?" He asked after getting up to escape the head bashing. Nero pushed him toward Syaoran and looked up expectantly like they should understand him. Only Sakura was able to though.

"I think he wants you to go with Syaoran," Sakura answered as she watched the wolf who nodded his head up and down.

"Let's go on an adventure then!" Mokona exclaimed and jumped on Syaoran's cloak. The boy picked up the teleporter and put him on his shoulders.

"How would we find our way back if it snows again?" Kurogane asked as he looked up at the clouds. Syaoran thought about it for a minute.

"We still have the feather from the other world. If we leave it here, couldn't Mokona just lead us back?" Syaoran asked Mokona.

"Yes!" Mokona responded happily.

"Where is the feather?" Fai asked. Syaoran pointed to the black bag near the fire. Fai nodded his head.

"Which way are we going?" Kurogane asked reluctantly after a few seconds.

"That way!" Mokona exclaimed and pointed toward south once more. Syaoran took the lead and the two left without another word. Sakura watched then disappear into the whiteness with even more worry weighing down on her.

"Sakura," Fai said after they had disappeared. She turned her head to face him.

"I think Nake's awake. Bring these to her please," Fai asked holding out a steaming mug and a canteen. Sakura carefully took each one from him before getting up from her seat. Nero watched her careful footsteps from his place next to the tent entrance. When Sakura was close, Nero got up from his seat and held open the tent flap for her.

"Thank you Nero," Sakura said gratefully as she carefully climbed inside. Nero came after her. He went right to Nakietra's side, licking her face quickly before lying down beside her. She opened her eyes and nudged over to give him more room.

"You're awake," Sakura said happily as she crawled slowly over. Nakietra turned her head and watched Sakura's progress with a pained expression. She took a deep breath and then painfully pushed herself up. Nero sprung up in an instant and helped her by supporting her back.

"You shouldn't move!" Sakura exclaimed in panicked voice as she tried to figure out what she could do to stop her without spilling the soup.

"Sakura, I'm okay," Nakietra said strong and reassuringly. She looked toward the young girl with her brown eyes just as sad as they were this morning. She held her hands and gently took the mug from Sakura's hands. She put the mug in her lap but didn't drink from it.

"Are you in pain?" Sakura asked meekly, her own eyes staring at the ground as guilt started to overcome her again.

"No," Nakietra answered truthfully. Sakura's mouth twitched into a frown as tears rolled down her cheeks. Nakietra glanced sideways at the young girls silence and froze. Slowly she positioned the cup between her legs before bringing her hand to Sakura's face to stroke her cheek. Once the tears had stopped, she put a hand on top of the girl's head and said, "I'm sorry."

"Everyone always gets hurt because of me," She cried in a quiet voice that broke many times over, "Why do you all do that? Why do you guys always put yourselves in so much danger for me?" Nakietra's hand fell down Sakura's face, then to her neck, and then down her shoulder to grasp one of her hands that sat uselessly in her lap. Her grip was strong and reassuring.

"Sakura...we do it for you. We know that if there is ever something that you can do, you do it. You work hard and do what you can, we just try to do the same," Nakietra said in a low voice. Nero crawled from behind her back to Sakura. He stepped up on his two front legs and licked away the tears on her face before beating his head roughly into her chest. Sakura took the big wolf's head and cried into the fur sticking up on top. Nakietra watched for a few seconds before tears started to sting her eyes. She remembered her own little Sakura crying into Nero's puppy fur when the black skinned boys in the village teased her because of her clean white clothes.

**The next day**

The boys were successful. Nothing was in control of the feather here except for maybe some snow and wind. The feather was encased in a thin wall of ice though and was easily retrieved which was good because it took many hours just to get to it.

Mokona was very happy about their adventure even though the other two were trapped in their own thoughts. He kept singing song after song of everything that came into his head and even danced a little sometimes from his place on top of Kurogane's head. Kurogane was able to block out most of it though just by thinking about every single thing he remembered Nakietra saying. Before Tomoyo, he never heard her mention the prince. He's heard her mention Marina multiple times, but only to Mokona and only when it came to needing to talk to The Dimensional Witch.

Syaoran was also trapped in his own thoughts as he followed their footsteps from the day before back to camp. He was trying to figure Nakietra out. He thought a lot about things he could ask her, especially how to word them, but nothing he thought about would actually work. No matter what, he knew exactly what Nakietra might answer to and the many things she would defiantly not even try to talk about.

"Nero!" A familiar voice shouted in her familiar accent that they sometimes heard. The boys stopped and listened again. Even Mokona was quiet because the question they all wondered was if it was real.

They listened to the crunch of footsteps in the snow and then continued on. It didn't sound like danger, and maybe they imagined it. Then, Nero exploded from behind a tree with a black ribbon clutched in his teeth. He narrowly dodged running into the Kurogane but his chaser wasn't so lucky. Nakietra darted out, her long black hair swinging madly around her. She brushed it aside and just missed Kurogane also until she lost her balance and fell back into Syaoran. She groaned as she sat up in the snow. Nero bounded back to the group looking very happy and very successful.

"Mmm," Nakietra muttered in pain before she climbed to her feet. She rubbed her head and then shook her head with a snarl. Kurogane watched and then took two steps back. He's seen Nakietra and Nero fight and it was something you didn't want to be near. It was never because they were mad at each other he noticed, it was always because one decided to mess with the other.

"Nero, give it to me," She commanded in an annoyed voice that sharpened her accent greatly. Usually she kept it covered, but times like these with Nero also brought it forward. It only happened with her though, not with any of them which is strange. Very strange.

Nero snorted in what sounded like a laugh. Nakietra glared at him before launching herself forward. Nero jumped backwards and was rushing through the trees once more with Nakietra chasing him. Syaoran rubbed his back while he pushed himself up.

"What just happened?" He questioned as he got to his feet.

"Nero's having fun!" Mokona exclaimed as he jumped down into a snow, "I want to have fun too!" He plopped down in the snow back first and made a rabbit looking snow angle. A moment later, Nero slid through the snow and crashed into Mokona. The rabbit snow angle was destroyed and Mokona was very squished as Nakietra pounced on Nero and pinned him to the ground with her dress riding up well over her knees. Luckily, she has pants on underneath. With her tiny fingers, she pried Nero's mouth open and took her ribbon away before jumping back. Nero rolled around in the snow as he struggled to get to his feet, rubbing Mokona farther into the snow.

Nakietra smirked triumphantly before putting the ribbon in her mouth and quickly started tying back her hair. The wolf sat up but didn't try to go for the ribbon again. Mokona had no clue what was going on or where he was thanks to Nero's thrashing and lay right next to Nero unconscious.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" Kurogane asked after taking a few steps to stand in front of her. Her hands paused and she looked up at him with shadowed eyes.

"No. Do you have the feather?" She responded and her fingers went back to work.

"Yeah. You're all better?" Syaoran questioned happily as he picked up Mokona. The rabbit didn't react as he tried to recover. Nero shook the snow from his coat and then left to go back to camp. Nakietra's eyes cautiously followed him.

"Yes," She responded, her gaze shifting down to the snow as she pulled the bun tight. With one hand holding her hair in place, she took the ribbon with her other and carefully tied it around her neat pit of hair.

"How's your arm?" Kurogane questioned as he started at her right arm. It seemed to be working perfectly but appearances are very deceiving.

"Its fine. Let's get out of this world. I hate cold," Nakietra said and started walking away. From behind, her hair looked like it had been curled into a neat little circle on the back of her head. Behind her ears hung her bangs because for some reason they didn't reach. Kurogane kept pace with Nakietra while Syaoran quickly went forward to catch up with Nero.

"Thank you," Nakietra said suddenly when Syaoran was far enough away.

"For what?" Kurogane asked. He had no idea what she thought he did, but he knew she didn't thank any of them lightly.

"You let me keep going until I collapsed, and then you saved my life. Thank you," She said sincerely. He looked at her sideways.

**Nakietra**

"I'm glad you're okay," He said finally. I nodded my head, relieved. I always feel like he's going to scold me for what I do. He never does though which I'm grateful for. I wouldn't bother listening to him anyways even if he tried. I wouldn't even take my own brother's scolding seriously unless I truly did something stupid.

"It feels nice…to know that none of you would have left me to die," I say slowly. I'm harsh to all of them….but they care anyways for some reason. Nero showed me a lot while I rested in bed. It made me really rethink my ideals when I saw them from his perspective. I feel ungrateful. They do so much for me, even if I hate what they do, and I don't return any of it. I know their stories, front and back…no one ever said that talking to them meant I had to tell them my whole life. Poor Sakura…she cried so much with Nero.

"Why wouldn't we?" He asked softly. He's not looking at me I notice. I look ahead. I'll never get used to snow. It's cold and wet. I'm glad I don't have it in my homeland.

"You were right…about me. I try to keep my distance, but all I'm doing is hurting them…I'm not going to do that anymore. I'm tired of watching people cry over me," I say slowly. I will die in the near future, that can't be stopped…I don't have to be alone though. Even if I break their hearts, it won't hurt them as badly if they knew me rather than if they didn't and found out about me afterwards…I don't want people to cry over me, but I don't want people to leave me because I'm not worth anything anymore.

"I won't ask you why you changed your mind, but even a warrior needs some allies," He responded and pat my shoulder. I breathed out in relief. I was scared of what he would say. I feel like running though. There's so much energy in my body, too much energy it feels like.

"It's a straight shot to camp from here. Want to race?" I asked with a small smile as I look over to him. I always used to race Toya back to the palace from town. He always won because he had longer legs, but I always came very close to beating him because I was able to dodge the crowds easier.

"Can you actually run?" Kurogane asks seriously. I smile bigger. I love naivety. I take off.

It's been so long since I've felt the wind against my face. This air is cold, but it still feels nice. It makes me feel like a new person. Kurogane is starting to catch up to me then. I look over and smile as I dodge under a fir tree. He isn't as lucky as her runs right into it. I struggle no to break down laughing as I finish my mark into camp. Kurogane is right behind me. A big welt is across my face and I need to bend over my knees to stop myself from laughing.

"Oh Kuro-po, did she slap you?" Fai asks jokingly. That wouldn't be as funny though. I won't tell it he doesn't though I guess. I glance around came. Everything is packed away already. The fire is out ad covered as well. Sakura has Mokona now and he's awake also.

"We should go," I say and rub the tears from my eyes. That was really fun. Syaoran and Fai move closer to Sakura and I follow them with Nero right behind me. I rub my fingers deep into his prickly coat and smile. I love Nero and everything he does for me. Kurogane comes behind me and I look back at him. It only took one man and one wolf to change my ideals. I must be getting sappier the closer I get to death.

I breathe in sharply as I feel myself get sucked into Mokona's vortex. Here we go again on another danger filler adventure. This time though, I'm not alone.


	12. The Past is Reborn

Worlds passed by.

Each new world revealed something new about Nakietra. They saw things about her that they only glimpsed before. They knew when it came to climbing, she was the expert. However, they didn't think that she would start teaching Syaoran her secrets. Everything she taught him was little and it was all practice. Syaoran's days became split. Half a day was spent either looking for the feather or working on his swordsmanship with Kurogane. The other half was spent with Nakietra.

They didn't always do climbing practice though. She always taught him something though by the end of the day, and Syaoran found out that even though she was only a few years older than him, she was the best teacher he could ever have. Everything she did was by example. First she would do it, and then he would try it. And it repeated with deeper explanations from Nakietra on the mistakes he made. This was the key when she started showing him how to fight like her. That part was slow though. While Kurogane taught him the basics, she was teaching him finesse. The simplest move can make the biggest impact he found.

Danger came every day in some. At least one person had an injury at all times if not more. Something was going wrong, and Nakietra told them what she noticed. Someone was manipulating them. Inexplicably, worlds they never visited before had one or two of them marked as villains sometimes. Others there were groups of third party armies hunting them just because someone told them to.

Nakietra didn't tell them that she knew who was doing it and also why. She only told them what she knew they would notice on their own after a while. It made her nightmares worse at night, but it kept her mind sane. The voice in her knife was driving her crazy with the partial information it gave her and her friends kept her sane by being the ultimate distractions during the day.

They were now floating through Mokona's internal tunnel now. Fai and Sakura were smiling as they held hands. They had taken to sticking together recently since every world they entered turned into danger right as they landed. Nero usually kept by Syaoran now at Nakietra's command as he learned to control his body movements better as he learned to ignore his blind eye by using Nero. Kurogane and Nakietra stuck together too. This was Nakietra's version of branching out. She was learning to not fight by herself, which was easier with Kurogane. Kurogane was a seasoned fighter which helped when it came to her making mistakes from fatigue. It was only because of her knife that she was able to still keep going on very little sleep.

The world fractured then. Everything twisted as the world contracted and compressed them together before ripping them apart. There was no direction then. No up or down or left or right as everyone broke away and became separated. Sakura grabbed ahold of Nero as Fai was thrown far from her. Syaoran was pulled closer to Fai, but not close enough to touch while Nakietra and Kurogane were spewn in their own separate directions.

The world was gone then. One second it was there, and the next it was something else.

A rushing river is weaving through a dense. The sounds of birds and insects are the only sounds that are heard above the sounds of the nearby waterfall. Trees bend low over the water as their roots struggle to keep their places on the unstable banks. The little sunlight stops the grass from growing, but the water encourages some plants to thrive enough to provide some color among the dirt.

The water fall is small compared to others. Its height is fifty feet, but its width is only ten. A strong net filters the water fifteen feet below the edge, saving anything that falls from the river. Over the net now are a few golden objects, undented and unscratched. Beside the net is a planked bridge that crosses the separated land and on that bridge is a man with sandy hair with a bag over his shoulders. Inside that bag are similar golden objects as the ones on the net.

He can't see the people who appear twenty three feet up the river and can't hear them at all as they pixelize into the air. Fai drops first, painfully on his butt but at least on dry ground just a few feet from the river's edge. Mokona comes next and lands unconscious on the man. Everyone else isn't as lucky.

Syaoran comes next. He's thrown sideways into the trees. His reflex training with Kurogane saves him just as much as his climbing training with Nakietra. He's able to grab the first branch, which breaks easily under his weight, and then grab a second one that doesn't which he uses to swing onto the beach next to Fai.

Sakura and Nero materialize a few inches over the water. The water is cold, shocking even and almost puts Sakura out. Nero climbs to the surface under Sakura's weight though and then works his way to the beach where Fai is. Kurogane is dropped into the water also, but closer to the beach. He helps Nero onto the beach while looking for Nakietra to come up somewhere.

Nakietra is the very last to come forward. The group comes together and looks for her but they see nothing from her at all.

**Nakietra**

Cold suffocates me. I breathe in and then choke. It's water! I put my feet down but the rocks are slippery. I can't find a foothold to push off of. My lungs burn. I reach up to the surface and breathe in some air. The current drags me under then. I shut eyes and my mouth. I can't do anything but go with the current. I reach around and try to grasp something. I feel the current pull me over an edge and I know I'm done.

Memories of home rush through my head. I think of Toya and how much I wanted to see him one more time. I think of my brother and my cousins. I even think of my aunt that hates me and my hard faced uncle. They're dead if I die. I can't save myself here though. Not with the water pushing me down to the water however far below me. Falling into water from any great height is like falling into concrete. I'm dead.

My body slams down into something like a net. My fingers grab onto it as my body bounces up and down as water continues to pound down on me. I climb over to the edge of the net and feel it sway. I'm alive. I take shaky breathes before opening my eyes.

There's a bridge in front of me. I reach for the top railing and then carefully swing my body unto the stable ground. My body shakes as a cold wind rips through me. Where are the others? I look up and see the waterfall I just fell over. I think I hear them but it's hard to tell over the water. I hope none of them fell over like I did. I need to get to them, fast.

I pull myself to my feet and quickly make my way to land. I glance at the gold objects on the net and slow down. This gold looks very familiar. I stop and reach over for a vase. I pull it close and look at the image on I before letting it. I take in two more shaky breathes and launch myself toward land again. I think I know where we are, and if I'm right someone is going to die

I look around at the jungle on the other side and my eyes narrow. I'd recognize that messy sandy hair anywhere. He's peeking out from behind a tree. I glare at him. His eyes widen. Yes, he defiantly remembers me and I certainly remember him. I start running. Jack takes off into the trees. He should be running. When you steal from me, you better hope I don't catch you.

"Jack!" I scream.

Everyone's heads turned up at the sound. They saw Nakietra in the river once and they then didn't see her again. They assume she went over the edge and were planning to check but now they stopped. They thought they just heard Nakietra yell.

"You get back here you _kalo_!" She yelled. That was defiantly Nakietra by the way the voice was tinged with an accent that none of them had ever heard. Kurogane took the lead down the steep hill while Syaoran continued to help Sakura. Nero followed Kurogane and then….

They stopped. The sight before them was fairly interesting once they got a few feet past the hill. Nero was the only one moving. He paced back and forth in front of the group as they all watched Nakietra chase a sandy haired boy around the same three clumps of trees. It was fairly amazing that the boy could evade Nakietra considering how fast she usually was. Kurogane couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey," Kurogane yelled at the two but neither reacted to him. The anger on Nakietra's face was enough to stop them from seriously considering stopping her, but then again there was the fearful face of the seventeen year old boy to consider. Kurogane still couldn't take it. He stepped forward and waited. When Nakietra ran past him, he grabbed her into a backwards bear hug to avoid her hurting him or escaping easily.

"Let me go!" Nakietra yelled immediately as she squirmed around. None of them have even seen her so mad before. Her lips were curled back pain as she failed to get out of Kurogane's grasp. Syaoran reacted just as Kurogane did. He grabbed the sandy haired boy by the arms which stopped him easily. As long as Nakietra was restrained, the boy had no reason to run.

"What did you do to her?" Syaoran asked gently as he turned the boy to face him and not Nakietra. The boy looked at him with his brown eyes. His face fell from fearful to shame before he turned away.

"Nothing," He answered seriously.

"_Yo la salmia Jack_!" Nakietra yelled as frustrated tears glistened in her eyes. Jake looked at her and then bit his lip as he looked down again. The group was completely confused on what Nakietra had just said.

"I want to talk to you before decide to kill me," He said with his sad eyes trained on her. Nakietra struggled one more time to escape but then gave up. She looked up, her eyes filled with pain and frustration.

"Is this another of your friends Nake?" Fai asked jokingly.

"He's no friend of mine," She responded not to nicely, "Let me go already. I won't kill him yet." Kurogane slowly released her but Nakietra didn't try to run toward Jack. She turned to the right and walked a few feet away from the group to calm herself down. Meanwhile, the boy surveyed Nakietra's group.

"It's cold out here. Let's get you guys out of those wet clothes. My house isn't far," The boy said and started walking away after he glanced to Nakietra. He kept his head low and he shoved his hands into his pockets. Fai, Sakura and Syaoran followed right behind him. They were curious, but not enough to ask Nakietra who was still very much upset. Nero waited for his bond to follow before keeping pace on one side of her while Kurogane took the other.

**Kurogane**

"What did he do to you?" I ask very carefully. Nakietra still stares at the ground. She's not angry anymore…but still. She rarely gets mad at all. Fai is different; he pushes everything too far with her. This…this was real anger at something he did.

"He took something from me…a long time ago," She responds and then brushes her hand roughly through his coat. It must have been when she traveled Hiro.

"What did he take?" I ask in a low voice. The others are being loud enough on their own up front, but I know Nakietra won't want them to know this yet if at all. She doesn't answer. I wonder if it was something Hiro gave her. That would make a lot of sense. I remember a time when Fai tried to look at her leather book and she tried to kill him…certain things it seems are not meant to be messed with when it comes to her.

"A bracelet….one that my father gave to my mother…and then she gave to me before-" she stopped herself. She's rarely mentions her mother. The few times I've heard about her were when she was teaching Fai something medical related. Her mother was a healer I assume. No one ever asked though.

"Once a thief always a thief I guess," She says and looks up for once and stares at the man. He's wearing long dark clothes are tighter on his body than most. He's taller than the kid but still just a skinny.

"You don't like talking about your family," I mention. She takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out before closing her yes.

"They're dead," She says. A shudder runs through her and she grips her elbows as she suppresses a sob. Something strikes me deep inside. I know how much it hurts to talk about someone who's dead. I lost my mother and my father. She did too. I wonder how old she was.

"You have no one waiting for you?" I ask. She shakes her head no. I press my lips together and shut up. I watch her rub her eyes with her dress sleeve before composing herself once more. I wrap an arm around her shoulders.

"You aren't alone here. You have us," I remind her and then draw my arm back. She nods her head that she understands. I can tell it didn't help her at all.

Jack's house was alone in the jungle. There was a well-used path from the front door to town, but otherwise there was nothing around for miles. The living room they first entered was decorated with cheap furniture and such, but the baths were amazing. There were two baths, one for the girls and one for the boys. The tubs were circular and could easily fit four people and were only three feet deep.

The tubs were metal and on a concrete floor. Jack explained to them that underneath the concrete was a fire that he fed with wood to keep the fire going. People came here regularly to bathe. After the water was heated and the vents were slightly opened, everyone was ready for their bath.

Nakietra never had problems taking off her clothes in front of Sakura. She loved baths, but Sakura didn't as much. She hated seeing Nakietra's scars and always felt guilty when she saw her left arm that was scared from their first journey.

"It's okay Sakura," Nakietra reassured her as she finally got into the bath. Nakietra had already scrubbed the dirty from her body and washed everything with soup and water. She loved these baths. The dirty water was filtered out while clean water was continuously pumped in. It was beautiful. Nakietra rinsed her hair one more time in the cold oncoming water before wringing it out and standing up.

Mokona sang loudly and his voice echoed through the wooden room. The thin sheet of wood separating the baths was defiantly not think enough for anything. Every word Nakietra said to Sakura could easily be heard if Mokona would shut up. It wasn't as if they were saying anything important at this point though. Sakura mostly asked what this world was like and Nakietra told her mostly about the town and how it does business. She wouldn't talk about Jack at all.

"Nakietra, I put out two of your dresses out for you and your friend. I'll be in the kitchen," Jack called just as Nakietra stepped out of the tub. She watched him carefully as he dropped the basket of clothes through the door and then left. His eyes never saw anything in the room. Nero rushed into the room before Jack closed the door. He ran past Nakietra and into the tub where he was very happy to get clean with Sakura. Jack could be heard talking to the boys in the other room.

"Nero says he wants a bath," Nakietra said as she started to shake out her hair. She wanted to talk to Jack before the others got out.

"Where are you going?" Sakura asked confused as Nero licked and splashed her. Nakietra rarely left Sakura completely alone in any world.

"I have to talk to Jack," She responded softly and then quickly pulled a dark blue dress over her body. The dress was shoulder less and somewhat loose around the torso for Nakietra. She dried her hair once more and walked out.

**Nakietra**

"Wait, Nakietra!" Sakura cries loudly as I start to leave. I pause.

"Stay with Nero," I command her. She looks down at the water sadly. I sigh. I never had younger siblings so I don't know how to treat her and Syaoran. I miss my cousins and I wish they hadn't been taken away from me.

"Naki, are you being mean to Sakura in there?" Fai asks loudly. I ignore him.

"I need to talk to Jack alone," I tell her softly, bringing her head up with one of my hands. "Please, I need to do this." She looks up at me and then nods her head. I smile and look to Nero. "Also, Nero would be happy if you would help him take a bath since he doesn't have hands." She smiles and laughs a little. Then her face turns worried.

"You won't hurt him will you?" She asks. I purse my lips. I could never hurt Jack, but he no right to steal from me like he did. He knew exactly what that bracelet meant to me and told me to my face that he took absolutely nothing from us when I asked him before we left. I kiss her forehead and leave just as Fai starts to sing along with Mokona. I feel bad for Kurogane.

**Kurogane**

I sigh and get up. I've had enough. My body is clean and warm enough. I don't need to listen to them sing anymore. I also don't want to be here with they get in trouble with either Nakietra or Jack. There has to be rules about this somewhere.

Jack put a variety of clothes out for us. Most of them are smaller but I manage to find a bigger sized shirt. It's sleeveless but I doubt we'll be going anywhere outside tonight. I look around at the pants and find a pair of tougher dark cloth one. I leave the room as quickly as possible to get away from Fai's singing.

The living room has three long couches, two old looking chests, and a few mostly bare bookcases. All the windows are covered with thin curtains and a fire is burn in the fire place between the two doors to the baths. Our clothes are hanging on stands around it with buckets underneath to catch the water. Next to the fire is a staircase that leads upstairs. We were told not to go up there. The front door we had come through originally is across form the staircase and to the left of that is a room. This room has no door, only an archway, and it looks like a kitchen. I head there and stop. I hear voices. I lean against the wall next to the doorway and listen.

"I don't understand you Jack…First, you're a thief and then you say you changed….You looked me in the eye and told me that you didn't take anything of mine…you lied to me. Why?" Nakietra asks. Her voice sounds like she's about to cry but also is angry.

"….Dawn's sick. We found out right before you left," Jack says. There's a very long pause. Who's Dawn?

"With what? Why didn't you tell us?" Nakietra asks with soft shock. Nakietra's never shocked.

"The wasting sickness, same thing our mom died from…I knew you guys wanted to leave, so I didn't want to tell you and make you stay. I couldn't do it to you guys," Jack says sadly. There's the scrapping of a chair and then a body collapses into it.

"Jack…did you sell my mother's bracelet to pay for Dawn's medicine?" Nakietra asks. I cock my head to the side. She's not mad at all now. She sounds…sad.

"No," Jack answers simply, "I knew how important it was to you…I would never let anyone just have it. I thought that if I took it though, you would come back for it eventually…I told Dawn that you left it here, and that you're coming back. It's the only thing that's keeping her alive now," He continues mournfully.

"You're selling the cursed gold then to pay for the medicine," Nakietra reasons in a tone that is more like outrageous shock.

"No!" Jack shouts and gets to his feet. "After you two left, I went to the temple and prayed to the ancient god for help. He told me that if I repaid everyone in the village for everything I stole from them, then he would tell me how to save her. He said I could use the gold as long as I didn't use it for myself," He explains. There was another pause.

"You keep the villagers happy while you get nothing," she responds sadly. Jack sits back down.

"None of them trust me, but they pay me a little for stuff. I grow vegetables, harvest wild fruit, chop wood, give out baths. They pay me something at least. It's enough to make sure we don't starve. They love Dawn though. In the morning's I've found dishes of freshly cooked meals on my doorstep, and the doctors checks on Dawn and tells me that I don't owe him anything," Jack names off. There was a scrape of another chair and another body carefully slides into it.

"Jack, can you blame them for how they're acting? Can you blame me even? You stole from them. Many of those lost their most prized possessions to you because you sold them to Rob just to make enough to live on," She told him.

"Yeah," Jack responds and someone got out of their chair, "I know. You didn't come back for the bracelet though. You're still a horrible liar," He says in a sad tone. There's someone walking across the kitchen.

"My group is looking for a feather that hold tremendous power," She tells him. There were a few moments of sounds but no words "Jack?" she asks.

"Do you have a sketch of one?" He asks.

"In my bag. You've seen one?" She asks.

"When you left, Ron went crazy. He would leave for months to search countries for you and Hiro. He was…Nakietra he wants to kill you," Jack says, his voice shaking. I don't like the sound of this.

"Jack, the feather," Nakietra reminds him.

"He bought this pink on one of his journeys. He's been using it as a weapon. I haven't seen it before, but some people tell me it's like he's destroying the mind of anyone he touches with the feather…The villagers are starving Nakietra. He's taking more and more of their money away for taxes and he's not paying them nearly as much as they need to live on. Me and Dawn are safe here because I own the land still, but—" Jack says silently.

"Ron has the feather?" She asks separating each word with its own level of fear. My eyes shoot open. I've never heard Nakietra sound scared before like this.

"Yeah," Jack responded shortly. There was silence after that except for the sounds of him shuffling around. One of the doors to the baths opened and Syaoran came out. His clothes were a little small and tight but they fit him. He gave me a quizzical look. I put a finger to my lips and he stopped right where he was.

"Is she upstairs?" Nakietra asks suddenly as she gets up.

"Yeah," Jack answers. I hear her pad out of the kitchen and out the door. She pauses when she sees Syaoran but then continues to the stairs. I push myself off the wall and head into the kitchen. Syaoran is right behind me.

The windows here were also curtained with thin pieces of cloth. Jack is standing over a stove with a large bubbling pot in front of him. On the countertops I can see the ingredients he used. Most of them are normal vegetables. It's a small kitchen. There's a fridge, a walk-in pantry to the left, a huge stove, a table for eight, and then the rest of the room is taken up by countertops.

I take one of the seats that are ajar at the table. Syaoran takes the one across from me and I see Jack twitch from the sudden noise. He covers the pot and then turns to face us while rubbing his hands on his dark brown pants.

"We…" He tries but then stopped, "I'm Jack. Who are you two?" He hasn't moved an inch from the stove and he's still only a few feet from us.

"I'm Syaoran," The kid says nicely. He's always nice to people.

"Sorry about the clothes. I didn't think you were that much bigger than me at first but I guess I was wrong," Jack laughs and sheepishly rubs the back of his head. His actions are partly fake. He wouldn't normally do this.

"They're fine. It's nice enough to have dry clothes," Syaoran responds with a smile. His clothes weren't even wet. It was still cold out for the clothes we had on.

"I'll have your actual clothes done for tomorrow so you won't have to suffer long," Jack jokes. "What about you?" He asks me. I look him up and down.

"Kurogane," I respond simply.

"Those clothes fit you good it seems. Good thing too, cause I'll never be able to wear them. Too big and long for anyone around here. I don't those two were thinking when they left those clothes here. I've never met anyone even close to Hiro's height, and there is defiantly no one as skinny as Nakietra. My sister, her name's Dawn, she will never fit any of Nakietra's dresses," Jack continues. I have to be careful what I ask him. If he's a thief, then he knows how to lie.

"You knew Hiro?" I ask. Syaoran looks at me questioningly. I ignore him for now

"Her brother? Of Course. He was the one who caught me the first time I tried to steal from them. That's how we met actually. I was trying to steal that bag of gems that Nakietra carries on her waist, but Hiro caught me and turned me into the sheriff. I was in jail for a day before they came back and paid my bail so I could go back with my sister," He says easily and smiles. I don't a lie there. He seems happy enough to talk. If the villagers hate him though, I doubt he talks to many people. I look down at my clothes. Hiro must have been considerably taller than Nakietra, and that's strange considering he was her brother. She incredibly short.

"Nakietra had a brother?" Syaoran asks me. I stare at him. If this guy knew Nakietra at all, he would know not to talk about this if we don't know about it firsthand.

"Yeah, he was older than her by…a good amount of years though. I don't remember how many. They were really close though…I mean, why would her brother teach her to fight otherwise? I mean, I wouldn't teach my sister at this point to fight. When would she even get to use it? There's no use to teach such a complicated skill to someone whose going to die within the next few years…It's easier to be the one protecting them, and Hiro was already her protector," Jack says as his voice pitches lower and lower into sadness. Dying…What does this mean? Nakietra isn't dying as far as I know.

"What do you mean by dying?" I ask. Syaoran caught it too and it looks like he was about to ask. Jack opens his mouth and then closes it. He turns back around to his cooking.

"Hey, what do you mean by dying?" I ask again more sharply. We have a right to know as her friends. Everything's starting to click together in my head. Why she distanced herself, why she tries so hard…why she doesn't seem to care about her life.

"I don't think I should say," Jack responds quickly.

"You don't think you should say what?" Nakietra's voice suddenly comes from the doorway very sharply. I look back at her. A deadly pale, blond haired girl is clinging to her dress while Nakietra's arms are holding her up underneath her shoulders. Slowly they move to the edge of the table. Nakietra kicks out a chair before lowering the sickly looking girl into it.

"Nothing," Jack responds just as Syaoran says, "He said you were dying." Nakietra's eyes narrow at Jack. The girl, Dawn I assumed, looks up at her with big brown eyes. She looks to me and then Syaoran.

"You should talk to me before you go starting rumors," She says harshly before taking a seat next to the girl.

"I'm not spreading anything," Jack responds quietly. "Why isn't Hiro here?" He asks after a minute of silence. Nakietra stares at him, her face pained.

"He's gone," Nakietra responds and looks down at the ground.

"Gone where?" Jack says sharply and turns to her. I feel like I shouldn't be here for this. Hiro is her brother that traveled with her last time. Why is it a problem that he's not here anymore? "He told me that he would always protect you, and that he would never leave you alone…So tell me why you are traveling by yourself with people who obviously don't know you?" He went on with a strong voice. I knew he would figure it out after Syaoran's screw up. I sigh.

"Shut up," Nakietra says quietly as her face dips lower. A hand covers her face and Dawn looks between her and her brother. I close my eyes. If Nakietra starts to cry, she won't want me to see.

"Jack, stop," Dawn tries in a weak voice.

"You see me as a thief, just like everyone else, but at least I don't go back on my promises to the people that are important. Where is the man who looked down on me and said I was a disgrace, who told me that I was hurting my sister by trying to keep us alive. Where is that man who said it was wrong for the older brother to leave their younger sister to fend for themselves? To leave them alone to be taken care of by strangers!" Jack went on with a little anger mixed in, "Where is the man who beat it into me that lying and deceiving people were wrong?"

"He's dead! Now stop it!" Nakietra yells loudly in a cracked voice. I open my eyes and look over to her. She has both hands covering her face now. She stands up and rushes out of the room. I hear the front door slam and I know she's gone just like every other time.

No one talked after Nakietra left. It was like an unsaid promise than no one should say anything about what they just talked about. Kurogane knew that Hiro was dead, killed by the nameless prince that Nakietra talked about with Tomoyo. No one else knew that though, which is why he didn't say anything.

Fai joined them in the kitchen soon enough though and the silence. He and Mokona both noticed that something was wrong, and so he asked. No one would talk, even Syaoran who was terrible at keeping secrets. When Sakura came in through, Fai gave and resorted to just sitting there and sing with Mokona. Soup was brought to the table with chunks of fresh bread and butter for whoever wanted any. Only those who had been in the kitchen before Fai wondered if they would see Nakietra before night settled in.

"Where's Nakietra?" Sakura finally asked among all the happiness. Fai and Syaoran stopped what they were talking about.

"She went to see an old friend in town. She should be back by now though," Jack responded easily while he secretly kicked Kurogane from under the table. The man looked at the boy with annoyance. Jack made a gesture with his head and Kurogane understood what the boy wanted him to do.

"I'll go find her," Kurogane said and got to his feet. Already though, Sakura was distracted by Fai molding the bread into some sort creation which he was insisting was Kurogane. Kurogane just happened to knock Fai in the back on his out sending the bread creation into his soup. Syaoran smiled and laughed a little as Fai insisted that Kurogane was now drowning in the soup.

Kurogane stopped in front of the door and looked to Nero. He was sitting in front of the fire with his eyes trained on Kurogane. His hair was sticking up in odd places and he was still somewhat wet from his bath, but he defiantly still looked just as dangerous as ever.

"Find Nakietra," Kurogane said and held the door open. Nero looked to the outside and bolted through the door with Kurogane following close behind. He didn't bother with shoes because he knew Nakietra didn't go far when she was upset.

Kurogane watched the wolf closely as they went. He's tried to follow the wolf to Nakietra before, but it always failed because Nero would bolt away into the underbrush and lose him. The wolf was deliberately moving slow today. It made Kurogane wonder if something might actually be wrong with Nakietra. He looked up and started to understand why the wolf was helping him. Night was coming in fast and the temperature was already dropping. His feet were turning numb as they went on and he wished he had brought shoes.

Nero then stopped beside a very twisted tree. The trunk looked as if it had been twisted like licorice and the trunk was flattened at the exact point where all the branches met. On that flat plane was Nakietra, curled up against the back of the natural chair with her finger nails digging into her arms. Nero stood back from the tree and waited for Kurogane to do something.

Slowly, Kurogane walked through the grass until he was right in front of her. He inhaled sharply as saw her arms. They were covered in scratches and blood. She was still digging her fingers into the cut she previously made just to make them bleed more.

"Stop," He said and grabbed her hand. She didn't resist as she looked up from where her face had been hidden against her knees. Her face was red and stained with already dry tears as she just stared up at him.

"He died for me," Nakietra finally was able to say through a broken voice. Kurogane looked at her arms and then let go of her hand. Nakietra let it fall against the trunk without any care. "He always protected me, and now…I'm alone. I'm not wanted," She continued as she stared at him.

"Everyone here wants you," Kurogane responded. She shook her head.

"Not at home though. I should be dead, like everyone else," She said and let out a very shaky breath. She moved her hand to dig into the cuts but he grabbed it to stop her.

"You survived. No one can tell you to die just because everyone else did," He said. She stared at him.

"You don't even know what I'm talking about," She said and straightened out her legs.

"You're talking about how everyone died because of the prince, except for you," He said and took her hands. "Let me help you down," He said. She nodded her head and used him for support as she carefully slid down the tree trunk.

"You shouldn't know anything about that," She said and started walking away. He kept one of her hands in his just in case she tried to each for her cuts on her other arm.

"I don't. I've just heard you mention it once," He said. She nodded her head.

"Don't ever ask me about it," She said. He nodded his head.

"I won't," He promised. She let out a sigh of relief and gripped his hand before tears started to slide down her face. Kurogane put an arm around her shoulders and let her cry as Nero lead them back to the house.

After they got back, everything turned serious. Nakietra washed her face and arms upstairs while everyone else took a seat in the living room. Fai and Mokona were still singing, but Jack was serious and therefore so was Syaoran. Nakietra took a seat on the couch to the left of the door with Nero next to her, Kurogane sat on the couch across from her with Syaoran, and then Jack sat on the couch next to Nakietra's with Sakura and Mokona. Fai sat on the floor in the middle of it all.

"Nakietra, you said you had a sketch of this feather for me?" Jack asked. Dawn was upstairs in bed again, so Jack was allowed to look serious. Nakietra looked at the boy closely. She had made sure to cover her arms with her sleeves so no one could see the bandages.

"Mokona, can I have my bag?" Nakietra asked quietly. One of her hands was combing through her now dry hair while the other brushed through Nero's coat. She looked uneasy, nervous even.

"Okay!" Mokona spat out the bag and dutifully handed it to her personally with a smile on his face. Nakietra didn't return the smile. She opened the flap and felt around for her leather book. She opened it right side up so no one could see the memories she had stored in it. She spent minutes pausing at pictures of people long since gone and of entries never read again. Finally she pulled out a sheet of lose paper and handed it to Jack. On it was a very colorful and accurate image of Sakura's feather.

"That's it," He said and passed it back to her. She cringed as she put the drawing away inside her book. She shut the book and clutched it to her chest. Her hands were shaking.

"Where is it?" Syaoran asked. Jack licked his lips and stared at Nakietra. She closed her eyes and propped her chin over her book.

"Ron has it," Jack answered. He wound his fingers together and squeezed them tight. This was the worst thing that could have happened this week.

"Who's Ron?" Syaoran asked.

"He's a very rich man who has his own personal guard. The people of the village rely on him so that's why they put up with his constant bad behavior," Jack explained and paused. "Should I say it?" He asked Nakietra. She didn't respond but she did open her eyes. "Ron has an obsession…with Nakietra," He said, carefully watching Nakietra's reaction. Her knuckles turned white as she clutched her book and she was visibly shaking. Everyone in the room was watching her.

"Can you steal it for us?" She asked Jack.

"Why is this man after you?" Fai asked seriously. He understood that this was no time to joke about things like this. He's never seen Nakietra shake from fear like this. Kurogane watched Nakietra. Whoever this man was, he knew he couldn't let him get anywhere near Nakietra. It takes a lot to scare someone like her.

"I have a few buddies among his guard. I'll talk to them tonight and see what we can do. I'll have a plan for you tomorrow though," Jack said, purposefully ignoring Fai since Nakietra wasn't responding to him either.

"The rest of us should sleep then, so we're ready for tomorrow," Nakietra responded.

"There's only enough room upstairs for three people. How did you want to split it?" Jack asked Nakietra.

"Nake, was he your lover?" Fai asked, hushing the last part. He was trying to make it funny so she wouldn't be as scared. It wasn't working.

"Sakura will stay Dawn, I'll sleep down here," Nakietra responded. She let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes.

"I'm going to be gone most of the night so two of your friends can have my room. I can always sleep down here if I get back before tomorrow. Who else will stay down here?" Jack asked.

"I'll stay," Kurogane offered immediately.

"Nake has a boyfriend! Nake has a boyfriend!" Fia sang and soon Mokona joined in. Nakietra took a deep breath and appeared to be losing it. She brought her book up to hide her face as she started shaking harder from fear. She remembered Ron. Sometimes she confused him and Benji in her nightmares. Ron was always more aggressive, always more explicit when he tortured her in her nightmares. It didn't help that she still remembered every single threat he made to her when she was here. She remembered especially how very explicit they were.

"Your friends can go into town tomorrow if they want…You should stay in the house though and away from the windows just in case," He said, his voice quivering. Nakietra nodded her head from behind her book.

"I got it," She responded, her voice shaking.

"Fai," Sakura said, obviously distressed. Fai looked to Sakura and then Nakietra. He stopped then when he saw that he wasn't helping her forget her fear

"How dangerous is this man to her?" Kurogane asked. Jack looked to the man and then to Nakietra and then back to the man to answer.

"Ron will kill her if he's able to get his hands on her…her death might take days happen and there's no chance will let her go or that we'll be able to save her…If he gets her, she dead, that's the whole story," Jack said. Nakietra curled tight into a ball. She remembered how he said he would break her leg by bashing it over and over again with the short edge of a fire poker that was red hot.

"Why?" Syaoran asked. Jack thought about the answer.

"Ron doesn't like foreigners. He picks on them when they come to his towns….Nakietra ignored every insult he threw at her. Hiro got pissed eventually though and threatened him with a sword…the next day Nakietra was beaten and thrown into reservoir. Ron then started calling her a whore around town then because the only clothes she could wear that wouldn't cause her pain were very short," Jack said. Nakietra remembered him whisper in her ear how he was going to rape her after every single torture act. The idea scared, but she never let it get that far.

"I'll get some blankets for us and show you three upstairs," Jack said after a look to Nakietra and hurried away. He knows he only made the situation worse by actually telling the truth. The group needed to know though he thought. Slowly those downstairs started to move. Syaoran lead Sakura upstairs, with Fai following with Mokona, and then Nero was comfortably on the ground while Nakietra curled up on the couch, still shaking.

"What did he do to you?" Kurogane asked quietly after moving to sit next to her.

"He beat me…he threatened me….That's all," She responded. He watched her. She sounded too defeated to lie.

"I don't want him near you at all. Whatever he did or said to you, has you completely scared of him," He said protectively. She nodded her head in agreement

"I don't want him to even know I'm here," She responded in a shaky voice. Jack came down then with an armload of covers.

"You guys can make up beds on the couches. I have to get going," Jack said and put them down on the ground. He looked at Nakietra and then was out the door. Nakietra didn't move at. Kurogane got up and threw the biggest cover over and then the other he took to his couch. He understood Nakietra needed her space. If she needed him in the night, he was only a few feet away.

Nakietra jolted away halfway through the night. Her body was coated in sweat along with tears all over her face. Her body started shaking and soon her body was racking with suppressed sobs. This was defiantly the worst nightmare of them all. She saw Ron, breaking into the house and then killing everyone very slowly in front of her. Then…he moved onto her last. A sob escaped as she remembered how real the burns and broken bones felt.

The sob woke Kurogane up right away. He felt like he was on guard duty because of how violently Nakietra reacted to the idea of seeing Rob again. He was on his fee in the instant and looked around the room. Two candles were lit by each of them and the fire was still strong. There was no enemy in the room. Kurogane slightly relaxed, but there was still the problem of whether Nakietra was alright.

He touched her shoulder lightly and she leapt up at him, wrapping her arms around his neck and crying into his shoulder. Carefully, he sat on the couch and maneuvered her over his lap. It wasn't until an hour later did she tell him about her dream…and it made his blood boil right until she finally fell back asleep.


	13. A Plan is Formed

Morning came too soon. Sunlight was pushing through the thin curtains and Nero struggled to stay asleep as the sun shinned into his eyes. Finally, he decided to just move away from the sunlight and to make Nakietra let him explore outside. In his mind, it would make it even considering she kept him up most the night with her nightmare. Usually he's able to block them out, it helps that she doesn't sleep much anyways, but last night was terrible. Nero poked his nose under her dress and touched his cold nose to her belly.

Nakietra let out a sleepy yelp but then settled down once Nero moved his nose away. Beside her, Kurogane immediately woke up but then relaxed into annoyance when he saw it was just Nero licking Nakietra's legs that were hanging off the couch. After letting out a long moan, Nakietra roughly pushed herself up and then opened the front door for Nero. The wolf happily padded out the door just before Nakietra let it fall closed.

"I hate when he does that," She mumbled and slumped into the kitchen. Her hair was messy and her dress crumpled, but still she looked beautiful in the dim light as she always did. Kurogane, slightly more awake than her, followed into the kitchen to see what she was doing. The two took a seat across from each other at the table while Nakietra tried to wake herself up.

"You CAN go back to sleep. You could use it," Kurogane told her. She shook her head no and stretched out her arms.

"I don't sleep. I'd rather start breakfast," She said and breathed in sharply before getting up. Her eyes were more awake as she poked around in cabinets and the pantry.

"What are you going to make?" Kurogane asked from his position.

"In my home, we sometimes make these really thin cakes that we eat with cut fruit when we have any," She said while she took out a heavy looking brown bag from the pantry, a basket of eggs and bottle of milk from the fridge, and a variety of fruits from one of the upper ones.

"Can I help?" He asked but not moving to get up yet.

"You can cut fruit," She told him and got out a knife and several sized bowls. She washed the outside of each fruit and put them in whole in separate bowls. He got up and carefully watched what she was doing. "Put each cut fruit in their own bowls," She told him when she was finished, and then went to making the batter for her small cakes.

"Do you miss your home?" He asked softly while they worked. The question caught her off guard for a few seconds, but then she went back to work at the same pace she was working at before.

"Always, but I've learned to deal with it considering I'll never be able to go back," She responded somberly.

"Is that what the Dimensional Witch took from you?" He asked.

"No," She answered with a sad laugh, "It's what the Witch Marina will take from me."

"You never told us why you need to find her," He stated.

"My home is in danger…for some reason, The Dimensional Witch can't interfere with my homeland but Marina can. She's my only shot at this point," She said plainly. Her eyes sparkled with tears, but none fell.

"Why won't she let you go home?" He asked. His voice was tight. He thought about never being able to go home. He loved his homeland, it was familiar.

"Marina likes relics. The more ancient, the better. She wants specific ones though, ones with magic inside them. My homeland doesn't have these artifacts…she also loves to makes everyone's lives around her as miserable as possible," She told him.

"Is there really no other way to save your homeland?" He asked. She paused and stared into her batter.

"My home is being is being destroyed by an insane prince who has an incredibly powerful weapon based off an ancient on…there's no way to stop. We tried a long time ago and all we ended up with was a sky stained with ash and a graveyard crowded with memorial… Do you miss your home?" She asked back, quickly changing the subject.

"Yeah," He hesitated. Nakietra nodded her head understandably and reached under the stove for a pan. She carefully pulled it up and placed it above one of the burners close to her. She lit it from a match in the drawer by the sink and then she was cooking with a spoon to scope the batter and two forks to flip them over.

Kurogane was kept busy then. Once the fruit was cut, the bowls were put around the table. Plates were taken out, drinks were pours, and utensils were found as the sleep ridden slumped in. Even with the help of Syaoran, Dawn made it down to breakfast. No one had changed from their night clothes yet, except for Jack who hadn't even slept yet.

"I never understood how someone who's dying can rush around so much," Jack mumbled loudly as his head slumped against the table. Nakietra balanced two steaming cups and a plate of her thin cakes as she came over with pursed lips. She set the cups down, one at her empty spot and another in front of Dawn, before lightly hitting Jack on the back of the head. She moved away from him and set the plate in the empty center before taking her seat between Kurogane and Dawn, who was dutifully sitting next to her brother. Jack rubbed his head where she hit him and sat up as straight as he ever managed before he had been taught some manners by Nakietra.

"Wait, who's dying?" Fai asked as he snapped out of his half asleep trance. Jack let out a painful moan, but looked like he wanted to put his head down again instead of eating.

"Why do you always hit me?" He asked jokingly but still half asleep.

"Because you have no manners, as usual," Nakietra responded and took a sip of her drink. Dawn raised a hand to her mouth and stifled a laugh. Nakietra laughed too then. "Make sure you drink that. It'll make you stronger," She told Dawn quietly and gestured to the other cup. The young girl of thirteen removed her hand from her mouth, revealing a very innocent smile, and reached for her cup and took it with both hands. She set it on the table closer to her and then reached into the folds of her pale yellow night dress.

**Nakietra**

I rub the side of my head. I've had enough of Fai to last me my entire existence both here and in The City of Wind. He's the most annoying person I'll ever meet. I look around quickly. Syaoran and Sakura are casually talking while they reach for separate bowls of fruit to load up their plates; Kurogane is playing with Nero who was begging for one of the flat cakes. They're his favorite I remember. Jack is slowly trying to figure out how to eat, Fai is playing with his food of course along with Mokona, and then Dawn….

"I have your bracelet," She says. I look at her. She looks down and in her tiny hand I see the glistening gold bracelet. Gently I pick it up. I've never seen it glisten so much. I rub my fingers over the twisted chain. It's never been this strong before. This can't be my bracelet. The center piece, a gold plate with a rose rising up covered in diamonds is so shinny. Even all the missing diamonds have been replaced. I turn it over and see the inscription.

_Corenta lensites a Lash o Sian_

Forever we will meet in the Land of Sand…

I've known what the back said ever since I could talk, but no one has ever actually been able to read it before. The words became dirt filled and smudged through all the years it's survived. My grandmamma even said she's never seen the words before and she knew that her grandmamma never saw them either. The bracelet had come from our ancestors. It was the only thing left from the Land of Sand where our City of Wind once stood. My hands follow the chain to the clasp. It's no longer broken. I close my eyes.

"_Toya, stop!" I yelled. He struggled in my arms and reached toward the flame engulfed house without any other care than saving his little sister. I wasn't that strong, but with my slight weight and having my feet dug firmly into the mud turned out to be enough to hold him back._

"_Father! Sakura!" He yelled with tears streaming in his eyes. Tears streamed from my own, from the smoke and my own internal torment for my tiny cousin that I knew was inside. He broke his other arm away and I tripped him to the ground before he could try to rip my arms from around his waist. I tumbled on top of him and hopelessly tried to hold him down in the ground. I knew he would kill himself if he got to the fire. I couldn't let him do that._

"_Toya they're gone, we can't do anything!" I yelled at him. We both should've know that. The fire was in full swing and most of the outer walls were burned away to show that everything inside was already black._

"_No!" He refused and pushed me off him. One of his fingers somehow hooked into the bracelet on my arm and yanked it lose with one yank as he stumbled to his feet. He took off to the fire._

"_Toya!" I yelled and stumbled to my feet. Before he could get close enough, Hiro jumped over the wall surrounding the castle and knock Toya to the ground. He easily held the other man down until others came to put the fire out even though we all knew whoever was inside was long since dead. I stood where I was with tears staining my cheeks, watching as Toya's heart tore in front of me. Even Hiro had a few tears, whether it was from the smoke of the fire, Toya, or both. We all knew they were dead long before me and Toya had arrived from town. We knew there was no way any of us could have saved them._

I clutched the bracelet to my chest. Hiro's gone, Toya's in hiding, and it's unlikely that I'll ever see him again. At least I have my bracelet to remember my mother though. I wore it every single day after she died until the clasp broke. I still kept it on me though after that until Jack stole it. I breathe in deeply. Nero can't talk to me like Hiro and Toya could. He didn't understand certain

but at least I had one thing to remind myself of them and my mother. I wore this bracelet every day since she was killed, and kept it with me even after the clasp broke, right up until Jack stole it from me that is. I felt pains of heartache as I remembered that I only had Nero to talk to about my past now, but he didn't understand why we people did certain things. Our life is too dangerous and excessive to him. I lost everything that day. Toya wouldn't smile as much, Sakura was gone, and my aunt hated me for letting her daughter die. I blamed myself for months for killing my cousin until Hiro forced me to come back to reality and realize that there was nothing I could do in that situation

"Are you okay?" Kurogane whispers in my ear. My eyes fly open and my entire body twitches at the shock of him being so close. I drop my hand to my lap and cover my bracelet in a delicate fist.

"Yeah," I manage. One of Dawn's cold hands rests over my closed fist. "I'm just happy," I respond. I look around and see that everyone has some food on their plates, even Dawn. I have absolutely nothing. I take a flat cake and put some apple on it. Kurogane pats my shoulder and goes back to distracting Nero.

"Jack, this isn't my bracelet," I hush to him. He turns from Syaoran's story, which was about some legend as all his stories seem to be, and studies me. He doesn't usually study people, since he's terrible at it, but me and Hiro were always people worth studying to him I guess.

"Mostly. I had it all polished, the chain strengthened, and then a new clasp and diamonds," He tells me seriously. I'm amazed. I'm an expert at determining what's the worth of currency in each world and also finding out what was rare what was common. Diamonds were certainly rare here, but gold was common.

"This had cost…a lot of gold," is all I can manage to say to him. I wonder if he stole the money to fix it since Dawn's medicine is also its own type of fortune.

"Nakietra, you and Hiro changed me. No one trusts me, but I swear to you that I fix that using money I earned. It wasn't easy, but it was worth it...I want to right everything I've done wrong," He say, slightly tripping over words. He lightly scratches his left hand with one finger as he dance around the actual answer. Yes, it was expensive and he probably sacrificed a lot to convince the local jewelry maker to do this after Jack had previously stole millions of things from him before we came.

"Thank you…but I can't take it back," I say sincerely and offer it to Dawn. The two siblings look at me with the same look of confusion.

"It's yours though," Dawn says quietly.

"I know, but I want you to have it," I say smiling sadly. Even though I'm happy to have it back and it certainly reminded me of everything I'm fighting for now, they spent too much money on fixing it for me to simply take …I won't live long enough to have a daughter and to pass it on to like I'm supposed to do. It's better if I give it to someone I trust and tell them to take care of it. Not that I trust Jack, but I trust Dawn.

"No. Nakietra that was your mother's and we have no right to it," Jack says and Dawn furiously nods her head in agreement. I sigh and give up right away. I know Sakura will take it if I ask her to. I easily hook it around my own wrist for now and turn to my food. Everyone is mostly done and I still haven't eaten anything.

"Nakietra, did your mother teach you to make this?" Dawn asks quietly. I take a bite of food and look over to her. She gestures to the cup before taking another sip. I smile. I love seeing her so happy. She's always been weighed down by Jack's crimes, but now there's nothing to keep her away from her happiness but her sickness.

"She used to make it all the time when I was little," I respond, my smile turning into one of sadness. I had just mastered the recipe when she was killed. My heart beats with heartache and I turn back to my food. "I can write down the recipe for you before I go," I tell her. I don't feel like eating at all.

"We would like that," Jack says as he gets up. He collects the empty dishes around the table and stacks them in the sink. It's obvious that every steps is a challenge for him to stand up. I rise and help Dawn to her feet as Jack continues to go. He's telling them to go to the living too. Dawn rips her body away from me and makes her own way to the sink.

"Jack, me and Sakura will do those. Why don't you and Nakietra go in the living room and talk about whatever you're planning," She says and moves him out of her way. Jack looks at his sister and shakes his head.

"How?" He asks unbelievably. I'm not as shocked. Jack isn't the quietest talker and is even less sneakier when it comes to Dawn. Of course she knew something was up. How else did she survive through his crime spree?

"Go," She says lightly. He continues to shake his head out the door. I follow him. The covers we used last night were folded and used as a seat cushion for Fai. I take a seat on my couch next to Kurogane and Nero jumps up next to me on my other side. Syaoran has one couch to himself and then Jack takes the final one to lounge on. I can tell right away that he fell asleep.

"Jack, what did you learn?" I ask. He jolts out of his half-asleep nap and starts talking with one simple, but strong, statement.

"It's impossible," He states and keeps his eyes open this time. Nothing's impossible, I've learned, if you had enough heart to try it at least.

"There once was a certain boy sitting in a dirty cell who told me that nothing was impossible when I made him a bet that he couldn't break out of that same cell," I tell him. He shakes his head tiredly.

"Don't turn my own words against me. I was a child," He says. I shake my own head.

"What are you now then?" I question. Barely a year had passed and he considers himself an adult? He's younger than me at this point.

"A slightly wiser child," He responds. I sigh with frustration.

"Why do you say it's impossible?" Syaoran takes over.

"Guards patrol the house and change every four hours and check in with Ron every half-hour. All doors still have automatic locks, the bars on the windows are now barbed, and there's only one key in existence for the room the feather is kept in and Ron never lets it leave his sight," He names off clumsily.

"What room is it kept in?" I ask.

"His bedroom," Jack says slowly, studying me once more. I swallow hard and dig my nails into my bandages. There isn't much pain but there's enough to keep me brave right now.

"There's only one thing we can do then," I say stronger than I feel.

"No, there isn't," Jack says strongly as he locks eyes with me.

"I can go to Ron, and make my way there. I can break a section of his window and drop the feather for Syaoran to get then I can escape," I explain as I trip over my words while Jack keeps saying "No" over and over again.

"NO!" He shouts finally. I stare down at him and he pushes himself up to face me fully. "He. Will. Kill. You."

"No, he won't," I says confidently. I know he'll kill me though if he gets the chance. If we guards on our side, I can drop Ron's keys through also and they can come help me. I'll do anything to help Sakura. Jack looks at me with frustration. "It's the only way," I say.

He lets out a long, frustrated sigh. "Can I talk to you?" he asks as he stumbles to his feet. I get up and internally sigh at what's to come. Jack looks around the room before grabbing my arm and pulling me to one of the baths. I don't know which one. He yanks me inside and quickly closes the door with his back against it so I can't leave.

"What is wrong is with you?" he hushes angrily. I swallowed hard.

"I have a plan to escape. I just need to get the keys away from Ron," I respond more confidently than I feel.

"It's too uncertain," He stumbles.

Jack, I have a few months at the most…do you really think it matters at this point what happens to me?" I ask. A few months left…I'm already nineteen years past my death date though.

"Nakietra…" He tries, "I can't let you..." I slowly roll my eyes.

"Jack, I can make my own decisions. I've always have been able to, but no one would ever let me," I tell him strongly.

"I-" He starts another protest but I cut him off.

"You aren't my brother, so stop trying to protect me," I say and roughly pry him away from the door.

"I'm supposed to stand back and hope you get out alive and not damaged then," He says sadly as he steps away from the door. My hand freezes on the handle and I close my eyes.

"No," I say and walk back into the room. Everyone is in their same places and the small hushes from Fai stop. I take my seat as does Jack.

"What are you thinking?" he asks. I start up at him.

"You're going to break Ron in the biggest way a thief can," I say. Jack's face breaks into a grin.

"I've wanted to do this since my mom died," He says gleefully.

"What are we doing?" Fai asks.

"While I get the feather, you guys are going to rob Ron and burn every deed and title he has, and Robin Hood Jack is going to be in charge of it all," I tell them all.

"That's wrong though," Syaoran stutters. I look at him.

"Syaoran, this man has kidnapped children and raised them into his guards, he destroys people who cross him in any small way, and he has robbed and threatened villages like this one for years. Tell me, are you sure he doesn't deserve it?" I ask. The boy turns his face to the floor but doesn't say anything.

"How are we going to do this?" Kurogane asks from next to me. Jack waves him off.

"I'll figure it out later. I need some sleep first," He says and crashed headfirst into the couch. He curls up into a ball and shields his eyes from the little rays of sun poking into the room.

"What do we do then?" Mokona asks innocently.

"We should go into town," Dawn says suddenly. She and Sakura are standing in the doorway, both smiling and happy.

"That sounds like a good idea," I say and turn to Mokona, "Can I have my other bag?" Mokona spits it out and I snatch it up.

"Do you need things for medicine Nake?" Mokona asks as he waddles over to me.

"Just a little," I respond. I take a sheet of scratch paper from my sketch book and started jotting down a list of measurements and herbs for Dawn.

"Dawn says there's an open air market with all types of things, and there also some free fruit trees scattered throughout the forest for us to pick from," Sakura says happily. I smile to myself as I check each jar of herds. I remember Hiro helping me climb to the top of a really tall tree so I could see the village from where we were. The branch we were on broke before we reached the top, but luckily neither of us got hurt. We didn't try again.

"Really? That sounds fun," Syaoran says mildly with a small smile.

"Fresh fruit is always the best!" Fai exclaims and is immediately out of his seat it seems.

"Nakietra, can you help me climb trees again?" Dawn asks as she scampers up to me. My smile fades a little. I can't risk leaving the house, but she can't know the reason. I faintly remember helping her onto a low branch of a trees so she could pick the fruit, but I don't remember her actually climbing because she was too scared of heights.

"I think I'll stay here. I'm not feeling so strong right now," I tell her and rubbed my slightly aching chest. I have been able to unconsciously block out the pain all morning, but now it's starting to bother me a little. Dawn gives me a small smile, one filled with sadness and understanding. I finish the list and hand it to her. She looks it over while I pulled out another sheet and rest it on the floor while I dig through the jars. At the bottom of all the herbs is a bag filled with precious jewelry and gems. The group probably always wonders how I'm able to get money in any world, but it isn't through stealing like they guessed. Just through buying and re-selling precious gems and metals.

I keep the bag closed as I examined a few pieces worth selling through the small hole. "Dawn, can I have two bags?" I ask her. She looks up from the list and turned to Sakura.

"Sakura, can you get two bags from the pantry. There should be some by the entry way. And maybe some baskets too," She asks happily as she went back to the list. I write down the descriptions of each jewelry piece, the highest price, the average price and also the lowest acceptance price.

"Syaoran, I have a job for you," I say somewhat reluctant. Hopefully, I wouldn't lose any money and he could learn a new skill. He comes over and peers down at what I was doing. "When you're in town, there's this rich jeweler merchant that does small time work for the village. He likes to buy jewelry, so I want you to take these to him and sell them for me. Do you know how to do that?" I explain. Sakura hands me the two small bags and I take out the pieces out and transfer them into one of the bags. I see Syaoran's eyes widen as he stares at the jewelry, "Syaoran," I remind him.

"No," He answers. I finished transferring the pieces and hand him the bag.

"Okay, first off, you always let the buyer suggest a price. If it's too low," I say and hold up the paper, "barter for the lowest price I've written. If he asks for your suggestion, you say the highest price and then negotiate from there. If he won't go for the lowest price, don't sell it. I'd rather have the piece back then lose a bunch of potential money," I say slowly and carefully. Syaoran seriously listens and is drinking in every word in. I turn to Dawn.

"I'll watch him," She says with a nod of her head. While her brother stole, she was the one whole sold most of the pieces. Luckily, the merchant was happy to take stolen merchandise and bring it to the underground, not that she knew that it had been technically stolen to begin with. Jack always told her it was his payment for work, but he never told her what his work was.

"Dawn will help you. Fai," I say since he's also listening. I crumpled up the other empty bag and throw it to him, "You're in charge of the money. Sell the pieces first, then get the things I wrote on the list Dawn has. Make sure the ingredients are of quality value. Whatever's left is for you guys to spend however you want," I tell him and pack the rest of the jewelry away. Syaoran takes the paper I neglected to give him and looks it over.

"Should we go?" Sakura asks. She's holding a stack of three baskets in her arms.

"Yeah, let's go," Dawn responds and grasps Syaoran's hand to drag him over to the girl. Fai came over all by himself with Mokona. Everyone started putting on shoes. Nero stretches out and joins them by the door, but Kurogane stays where he was. I turn to him.

"Aren't you going?" I ask. I don't like being alone, but I know how to deal with it at least.

"I'll stay," He responds and watches everyone leave through the door. I fix my herb back and push it off to the side. I stare at him as he puts his arms behind his head and leans back with closed eyes. I curl up my knees and rest my chin on them. It helps block out the pain. I don't feel like taking my medicine because I'm too entranced by how Kurogane looks.

Hiro's clothes fit him perfectly, though I don't remember him ever wearing those specific ones. They were probably ones we acquired in a different world but he probably didn't like them that much since he left them here. Still, they were once his and he wore them at least once. As an artist, I can't help noticing how the small amount of light makes his tanned skin glow and how peaceful he looks no matter where he is. Always controlled, calm, and organized.

I noticed how his clothes rumpled a little from his posture and how parts of him were darker than others as they shadowed each other over. I can't resist. I quietly take out my sketch book and one of my last pencils and started sketching him on a clean page.

There was always something frightening about drawing the first few lines on a clean page, but there was also always something exciting about the smell of a fresh page touching the air for the first time. I dig my blackened out from the bag and soon it was chipped down millimeter by millimeter as my hands became more and more smudged with the graphite. There was also always something about getting my hands dirty that made me feel successful too.

I don't know how much time passed, but Jack snored all the way through it and Kurogane didn't move. I wondered several times if he knew I was secretly drawing him, and I also wondered why he offered to stay. Going to the market was defiantly an adventure, one that may rival some of our own, and the fruit trees were defiantly a rare sight to see. Even though he didn't know those things like I did, he usually didn't like to leave Syaoran alone when a feather was around. We all knew what happened, or at least what could, when he wasn't around to save Syaoran from doing something life threatening.

I blew off my finished drawing and examined it with a small smile. I put the pencil and eraser away, but all I could do was stare at the drawing. Even if I died right after I saved my home, I would be happy. Kurogane was right, I needed them. In very certain ways, I've always needed people even if those people were quiet and controlled unlike my family.

I put my book in its usual place and curl up on the two cushioned space I have. My feet press against Kurogane's leg and I feel comfortably squished like when I was little and sleeping with my cousins in our shared room. I clutch the pillow and soon I fall into a dreamless sleep for the first time in years.


	14. Operation Ron

**Nakietra**

"Nake!...Nake!...Nake!...Nake!" Mokona is saying over and over again while jumping on me. When he goes up, his voice gets higher and when he comes down his voice gets lower. I'm amazed he can be this coordinated. I breathe in deeply and blink my eyes open. I wonder how long I was asleep for.

I push off the wool cover on me and carefully sit up. Kurogane probably put it on me. Mokona stops jumping and stares at me. He doesn't say a word but frowns. I brush the space between his ears and get up. I must look pretty grim for him not to say anything. I really don't want to see Ron though.

Mokona hops to the floor on his own and I start stretching out my arms. I'm going to need everything I've got to keep Ron from killing me. My breath catches in my chest. No, he won't kill me tonight. There are far worse things than death I know though.

I look toward the stairs as Jack comes down. He stops on the bottom step and watches me. I drop my arms at my side and wait for him to lecture me more. I don't want to be lectured, not by him or even my group. I already know they care and that's the problem.

"Are you ready Nakietra?" He asks somberly. I nod my head. "Let's talk with the others in the kitchen then," He says and steps down and toward the kitchen. I take a deep breath and follow him. My fingers find their familiar holds in my hand and I dig my nails in. I don't feel confident at all with my plan. Ron is murderous and will torture me til death.

Syaoran and Kurogane are standing on either side of the table and looking at each other while a man in a guard's uniform stands at the head. All of them are silent and none of them are happy. I look at the man. He's one of Ron's men and must be the captain because of his age. I don't see Fai or Nero. I'm glad. I can't handle dealing with either of them right now. I don't look for Nero with my mind to keep him away. Sakura and Dawn are upstairs and Mokona has wandered away somewhere.

"Here's the plan," Jack starts and takes a stance at the other head of the table near us. I stand next to him. I don't look up at either of the boys. "Nakietra, you will go to the front door and wait to be let in. The guards have already told him that you are currently in town and he's told them to catch you. When you knock on the door, a guard will answer and bind your wrists to make it seem like you were caught. Ron will come down to personally take you upstairs. Meanwhile, the rest of us will meet the rest of the guards at the back door. While Ron is distracted by you, we'll be taking everything of value and moving it up to the temple by horse. I'm going up to the temple as soon as possible to help unload and store everything while you two will help load everything onto the horses," Jack said, pointing to the boys during the last part.

"What happens if Ron discovers you?" I ask. If for some reason I'm knocked out, Ron could easily hear the horses or if they break or drop something.

"As long as you're distracting him, he won't notice us. His room is sound proof so he won't hear us unless there's absolute silence," Jack said, looking to the captain for confirmation. The man nodded his head.

"You can back out right now if you want," Jack told me seriously.

"I'm the only one who can do this," I respond. My palm starts bleeding and I take my hand away. I start removing the relics in my hands and around my waist.

"Why are you taking those off?" Syaoran asks unsurely.

"If I was capture by the guards, they would have taken anything dangerous off of me. It'll look suspicious if I have these or my knife on me," I say as I drop them on the table. The knife comes off last.

"Be careful," Kurogane states and then closes his eyes. I nod my head and then undo the clasp on my bracelet. I don't want it to break again. Everyone files out with me and Kurogane last.

"I've never seen that bracelet before," He states. I pull my shoes on and pause.

"I don't it to break again," I tell him and step out the door.

"How did it break last time?" He asks and follows me out.

"_Toya, stop!"_

"A friend pulled it when I stopped him from killing himself," I respond. He didn't speak for the rest of the journey. I swallowed hard as we approached the house. It looks much worse than last time I was here. Every window is lit in dim yellows while a ten foot wall of brick surrounds it. It's like a prison. I see the barbs on the bars over the windows. I remember climbing them once to try and steal back the money he took an old man in town. I remember running when the guards saw me.

"Be careful," Kurogane reminds me one more time as we pass through the gate. I nod my head and head to the front door as he follows the others to the back. My chest is suffocating. I haven't been this scared since…since Benji killed everyone. I breathe in deeply and knock three times. The guard that opens the door has ginger hair. I walk inside and hold my wrists out. He binds them with fairly strong rope but only twists the ends in instead of tying them. I'm grateful.

"I'll go get him. Stay here. Good luck," He says and disappears into the house. I wait and watch the place where he disappeared. Ron comes around the corner soon and I stiffen. He hasn't changed.

He's a tall, burley man. He wasn't as tall as Hiro but he was still the most intimating man around. He has rich brown hair and even richer brown eyes. His clothes are made of shimmery silk that I know were worth a fortune in themselves. Goosebumps prickled on my back as he smiles sinisterly and runs a finger down my cheek.

"I didn't think you would ever come back to this town," He says and runs his finger back up the length of my face.

"I couldn't let you keep going on as you have been," I say.

"And what did you think you would accomplish then?" He asks. His hand curls around my shoulder and he squeezes sharply. I wince.

"I'm going to break you," I respond strongly. He smiles and then stirs me into the house. I follow him through the twisted hallways and up two flights of stairs. He stops me in front of a door. I watch him remove his keys from his belt and unlock the door. He pushes me inside and I watch him slid them into his pocket. I need to get those keys. I look around the rich room. I see the feather in a glass box on top of the fireplace. I need to get that feather as well.

Ron shuts the door and I turn to face him He's still smiling as he cracks his fingers one by one. I back up and pull my hands free. I don't let the rope fall to the ground but keep it twirled up in my hands. He keeps coming until I'm backed up against the bed. I give the rope some slack. I can strangle him with it just for a minute if I'm careful.

"What did you think a child like you could do to a man like me?" He asks and pushes me against the bed. I roll to the side and climb to my feet. He grabs me by the hair and lifts me up to my feet. I bring my hands forward while his concentration is on my. I push the rope against his throat, wrap it once around, and then pull tight with both hands. He reaches for the rope but I don't let him get a finger underneath it. He falls to his knees and I run. I dart to the fireplace and grab the whole box. He's pulling the rope away. I see the keys on the floor by him and I scoop them up. He puts his knee on my dress and grabs me by the throat.

"You little bitch," He says dangerously and squeezes. I grab his hand and dig my nails into it. It does nothing. I take one hand and shove my fingers into his eyes. He yells and I'm free. I grab my fallen objects and run to the next room. It's a walk-in closet. I slam the door shut and look around. There's only one window.

He's shouting and pounding on the door. I grab one of his shirts and punch the glass. It's tough but I'm able to break it after a few tries. The door splinters and I rush. I push the box out first. My arm scrapes against the broken glass. The door cracks again. I can see Ron through it. I throw the keys out and then the door is smashed open. I look over and watch Ron climb through the broken door. Please hurry Jack, I don't think I can hold him off for long.

The guards were the only ones allowed to ride the horses. The captain had a fear that Kurogane and Syaoran would get lost on the way to the temple so they were only allowed to load the horses. There wasn't a dull moment as new objects were brought to them and new horses were saddled up as time passed by.

"Captain, I found the thing Jack told us to look out for," A guard shouted as he rode up on a horse. He held up his hand and in it was the pink feather.

"Good work," The captain said proudly and took the feather. Syaoran ran up to the captain.

"I don't know why you guys want it, but here," the man said and handed Syaoran the feather. Syaoran tucked it deep into his front pocket.

"The girl has to stay in there until we're done I'm afraid. Don't worry though, the faster we work, the sooner she gets out," The captain said with a sort of knowingness as he took the keys from his guard. Syaoran nodded his head and joined Kurogane in loading up the new horse that just arrived.

A few more hours passed then. The house had been filled with rice treasures and by the end of it everyone as exhausted. One by one, the tired horses were lead away toward their distant stable until finally, Jack showed up with a guard riding in back of him.

"Everything of value is gone from the house?" The captain asked his men as they gathered around him. Jack jumped off the horse and joined the group near Syaoran and Kurogane.

"Yes sir," The red haired guard who had previously led Nakietra inside said.

"The deeds and important papers were burned?" The captain asked.

"Yes sir," The guard repeated.

"Now we get the girl then. Start the plan," The captain shouted and waved him off along with all the others.

"Yes sir," The boy said and headed inside after several guards that were his seniors. Kurogane and Syaoran started to follow but Jack and the captain stopped them.

"You two should head back with Jack. I'll make sure the girl gets out," the captain said. Without any argument, the boys retreated with Jack only because they knew that they were only allowed on this mission because of Nakietra, not because they were actually needed.

Smoke filled the air as the prison looking house crumbled to the ground from the flames bursting inside. Nakietra was safe now, somewhat. The captain made sure of that. He was the only one he trusted with her right now. Her dress was gone, but he made sure she was covered with a soft silk blanket they took from their ex-employer's bed. Ron was gone though, fled to the next town over. Without the feather or any money, he wouldn't get very far.

"Get a doctor to Jack's right away for this girl," The captain told one of his guards. The man in question nodded his head and ran as fast as he could to town. Meanwhile, the captain lea his men to Jack's where they had been promised shelter.

A weary Jack was the one who opened the door for them. He stepped back as the men filed in, filling up the kitchen first before spilling out into the living room to allow those already there some space. Everyone except the girls was in the living room. Jack shut the door behind the captain, his eyes following Nakietra's limp body. Blood was tickling from her mouth and her face was gaunt.

The boys stood up in order to get a look at her. Fai had watched Nero wither and fall unconscious in the past few hours and he had immediately told the other two once they arrived home. Both men wanted to run back and help Nakietra, but Jack stopped them. They wish he didn't.

Jack looked at them first before going to the men's bath. "Bring her through here," He said hurriedly and pushed the door open. The captain disappeared inside with only a glance to the boys. A few minutes later, the doctor arrived with his face redder than the guard who had retrieved him. All the guards in the living room pointed to the door their captain disappeared to and the doctor was gone. No words were spoken. No words needed to be spoken.

Moments later, Jack and the captain came out, both with very tired looking faces. The captain joined his men while Jack glanced over all the guards. He looked behind him to the three boys who still hadn't sat back down.

"Fai, go help the doctor," He said and then looked back at the guards. Jack licked his lips and started giving orders. "Rus, go upstairs and check out the room on the left. See how many of your men can sleep there for tonight," He stared. The captain nodded his head and disappeared up the stairs. "I need two guys to push these couches together against the wall," He continued pointing to the two couches facing each other. Two men in the living room stepped away and went to work. Jack went to the covers in the corner and threw one to Kurogane and the other to Syaoran. "You two go sleep upstairs with the girls in Dawn's room," He told them and turned to one of the chests.

"I'll stay down here," Kurogane stated. Syaoran tiredly looked to the bath door before going upstairs like he had just been told.

"That's fine, I'll send Fia up when he's done then," Jack said absently while he pulled dozens of covers out of the chest, "Can you start handing these to the men then?" He asked and got up as the captain descended the stairs.

"Six can stay up there," he told Jack and then turned to his men. Kurogane grabbed a bunch of the folded covers and handed everyone one. The captain sent six of his men upstairs while he waited for Jack to tell him to do something else. Jack closed the now empty chest and stood up while Kurogane still handed out covers.

"The rest of you can sleep on the floor here or in the kitchen. Someone can have the one couch over there," Jack said pointing to the untouched couch, "No one is to disturb the doctor or Nakietra. We all could do with some sleep," He continued mindlessly. He was obviously tired and losing his senses from the lack of it. Jack took the remaining covers from the floor, leaving three for himself, Kurogane, and Fia, and started making a bed on the two couches pushed together. Kurogane strolled up to the Jack.

"Who's sleeping here?" He asked quietly.

"Nakietra once the doctor's done with her," Jack answered while he worked. "I shouldn't have let her do this," He said once he was done. His hands supported his upper body on the couch arms and looked as though he was ready to topple over from lack of sleep. Kurogane couldn't blame him. Nakietra was impossible to stop when she put her mind to something.

"You need to sleep," Kurogane said to the other man. Jack stood up straight but it was only a second before he was slouching again over the couch. He swallowed hard.

"Do…do you know about Nakietra and her thing?" He stuttered. Kurogane just looked at him with silent confusion. Jack took the lack of answer as a "no" and turned away to make a spot for himself on the floor.

"What do you mean?" Kurogane asked.

"Never mind. Go to sleep," The boy said and collapsed onto the ground. Absently he pulled his cover over him with some difficulty and then went to sleep. Kurogane took a spot against the other bath door and left his mind to wander.

Morning came a few hours later and Nakietra was put to bed. Even though Jack should have been asleep, he was up as soon as he heard the door open. Him and the doctor talked near the door while Fai stumbled upstairs to sleep. Kurogane kept still and listened closely.

"Jack, you are a magnet for tragedy," The tired doctor said and shook his head.

"I wonder, how long did it take you to think of that?" Jack tiredly joked. The doctor didn't react. "Never mind, tell me about Nakietra," Jack said somberly and there was a creaking sound as he leaned against the couches. The doctor looked down at the woman with Nero stretched out beside her. Touching his nose was Nakietra's gold knife, which the wolf had stolen from the kitchen table and brought to his friend. The gold touched her skin from underneath the covers, but neither man said anything about it or questioned the wolf as he cuddled up next to the woman.

"There's bruising around her neck which indicates strangulation as well as numerous marks all over her body from someone grabbing or touching her roughly. I found no evidence of rape, but the marks show that he at least attempted it if something hadn't stopped him…The main bone in her right leg is fractured, and there are some extensive burns on her torso, especially her stomach. It almost looks like he took some type of metal plate, heated it up, and then laid on her bare stomach. Her wrists show evidence of being bound, and her forehead looks like she may have head-butted him," The doctor named off, looking toward the girl multiple times with each new injury.

"I can believe that," Jack said with a small smile. It disappeared right away and his face was serious again. "What about her sickness? I saw the blood coming from her mouth."

I doctor breathed a long sigh. "I don't know. I have to talk to her and find out how long she went without medicating first, but it looks bad. There are three stages to this disease, and she's either nearing the end of the second or already in the beginning of the third."

"Is there anything I can do?" Jack hesitantly asked with a grim face.

"I'm going to go home and rest, but I'll be back later to see your sister and check on Nakietra's burns. I would like it if you could find a vial of her medicine and give it to me. Whatever she's using will tell me exactly what stage she's in," The doctor said tiredly. Jack slowly nodded his head.

"I'll look around. She's here with some friends, but I don't think they know," Jack said as the two men walked to the door.

"Nakietra was babied all her life because of her condition. I've seen it before many times over. For whatever reason, her brother isn't here to continue that tradition so she's allowed to try and live a normal life until her time comes. If she hasn't told them, you shouldn't. You'll only make them pity her," The doctor told him.

"I never thought about that before," Jack said quietly. The front door was opened and the doctor stopped before going outside.

"You're young, and you've never seen this before like I have. Too many young people, like your sister, get sick and then are pitied for the rest of their lives. I've seen them act out by doing dangerous things and I've seen them run away from their loved ones just so they can try to live a normal life," The doctor finished, "I'll see you later." He stepped outside and Jack closed the door. With a long tired sigh, Jack shuffled into the kitchen to start cooking. Kurogane opened his eyes once he was sure the boy was gone, and mulled over this new information.


	15. The Saving Grace

The doctor kept to his promise and was back by midday. The house was empty. All the ex-guards of Ron's were exploring. Some of them were looking for work and lodgings in town while others were arranging transport to their birthplaces. Many were deciding to stay in town if they could find work though now that they were truly free. The town's people had a different reaction though.

Many were skeptical. They didn't dare smile or celebrate in any way. They believed that the moment they did so, Ron would come ridding into town on one of his horses and hurt them with his power. The younger generation was much more grateful and happy. They were dancing in the streets with fiddles and flutes playing old tunes. Even the guards joined in on a few dances. Everyone could agree that the ashes of the house toward the East were a good sign.

Jack was pleased. Not only by the fact that he had made his town happy for once, but also that his friends in the guard were now able to live their lives. He offered a few of them jobs on his small plot of land, but so far their answers were "let's see what's in town first". They knew Jack wouldn't be able to pay them very much. His attitude darkened when Fai and Syaoran headed down with grim faces. Jack put on a strong face though and led them and Kurogane outside to work.

His land was a mess after two days of neglect. There wasn't much crop this late in the season, but there was defiantly a lot to do before the snow came. Jack started Kurogane on the task of chopping wood. Most of it had been from dead trees in the forest that he had cut. A few were younger ones that he found. He put Syaoran and Fai on field work. Mostly it was pulling weeds and picking ripe vegetables though. Jack gathered smaller sticks and dry grass into bags for when they needed to start fires in the winter. No one judged him for taking the easiest of all the tasks.

Jack's thoughts were consumed with his sister. She had always been weak, even before their mother died. The pain from her decaying muscles was making her delusional also. He couldn't stand to be by her even at this point because everything time she saw him, she asked for someone that was long gone. Today she was asking for Hiro and Nakietra. It was too painful to try and talk about them like they're all right.

Jack looked back as he heard someone walking across the back path. He saw the doctor stop and wait just in the shadows of the house. Jack dropped his bags on the ground and ran to him. Kurogane looked up and the doctor and dropped his axe.

"Jack," The doctor greeted gently. Jack didn't have any words for the emotions churning inside of him. He was scared of the news that was about to come. Dawn has had bad days before, but they have always been iffy in terms of her getting better. Kurogane was walking to the doctor now just like Fai and Sakura.

"I sorry Jack, but we're at the end of the line. She won't make to the night," The doctor said quietly. Jack breathed out and his face fell.

"No," Jack said silently in disbelief. Dread visibly filled him up as he seemed to grow smaller and older in a matter of second.

"I gave her something for the pain and Sakura has some extra. Give her as much as she asks for," The doctor whispered mournfully. He was upset too but not as much as Jack. Everyone in the village loved Dawn, but not many liked Jack. The doctor was one of those few who cared about both of them ever since they were born.

"How long?" Jack managed meekly. Syaoran looked to the ground, his face sad just like Fai's. They hadn't known Dawn for long, but they truly liked her. She was sweet and innocent, but she also knew trades that were meant for those that were opposite of her nature. Kurogane had absolutely no idea what was going on. Jack was gone in a few seconds.

"There's nothing else you can do for her?" Fai asked to make sure. The doctor nodded his head.

"Her brain is a muscle, and like the ones in her arms, it's decaying faster than it was before. You saw that this morning that she doesn't remember a lot of things that she knew yesterday," The doctor told the man. Fai nodded his head sadly. The doctor glanced to all of them.

"Nakietra is recovering rapidly though. I've never seen wounds close so easily as hers do. She should be waking up soon. I want someone to contact me as soon as she does…Don't let Jack leave Dawn though," The doctor said and turned to leave. Kurogane almost asked him a question, but then stopped himself. Nakietra didn't even want him to know what he overheard last night. He should make Syaoran or Fai aware of it.

"At least Nakietra's recovering," Fai said trying to lighten the darkened mood with a small smile, "Maybe she can help Dawn." The other two looked to him, almost in disbelief.

"If she could have, wouldn't she have helped her before this?" Syaoran asked. He looked like he was about to cry as he sometimes did when he heard about something completely unfair happening to someone. Fai shook his head no very slightly. Kurogane looked at him but knew he wasn't the only one keeping secrets from everyone else.

"Maybe she can't though. We won't know until she wakes up," Fai said and turned around to walk back to the field. Without words, Syaoran and Kurogane turned back to finish their own work as well.

The sun continued to move across the sky as they worked. The field was finished quickly and then they started helping with the wood. Syaoran took the already chopped wood and started putting it in the wood shed attached to the back of the house while Fai took over Jack's work.

"I'm hungry. Maybe it's time to do some cooking," Fai said and started walking inside once the sun was low enough in the sky. Syaoran followed, stifling a yawn, as well as Kurogane who looked just as awake as he had been this morning. The boys entered the warm house and looked around. Nakietra was on the floor in front of the fire with her leather book out. As soon as the door opened, she had slammed it shut and turned her head back to look at them. Nero was lying in back of her and looked asleep.

"You're awake!" Fai said happily with a smile. Nakietra didn't smile.

"Yes," She responded. Nero brought his head up and then started to stretch out his back. Then he was on his feet and walking to Syaoran who hesitantly patted his head. Nero was happy enough and then went into the kitchen. Meanwhile, no one said anything. Fai realized Nakietra was the last person she wanted to talk to so he headed into the kitchen. Syaoran collapsed on the lonely couch and was asleep then. Kurogane walked over to her and took a seat on the ground next to her. She put her book carefully next to her and twisted her body to face him.

"How are you better so fast?" He asked with a small smile. He was glad she was fine. She tapped her knife that was balancing on her knee and smiled softly.

"The spirits healed me," She responded softly. Syaoran sat up suddenly and their heads turned sharply to him.

"I just remembered, the doctor said he wanted to talk with you," He said. Nakietra's grimaced and looked away.

"I don't like him…where's Jack?" She asked then with a suspicious tone. Syaoran swung his legs to the ground while Kurogane stared at her.

"He's upstairs with Dawn," Kurogane said simply. Nakietra stared at his face and then pursed her lips. She understood what was going on then. She pulled her knees up and buried her face into them. Dawn was young. She shouldn't have to die like this. Syaoran left the house but neither of them looked up.

"I need my herb bag," She said suddenly and looked up. Kurogane blinked a few times and then went to get it.

"What are you thinking?" He asked her. She looked up with those stubborn eyes.

"I have something that could save Dawn's life," She said mournfully. He pulled the bag over from its place by the couch and watched her look through it. Jar after jar of herbs was looked at and checked until she found the one she wanted. It was labeled "Sweet Barb" in spiky letters that were defiantly not her own. She unscrewed the lid and pulled out a golden vial from the middle of the bark like sticks. It emitted an unnatural light that could only be described as blessed or holy.

"What is that?" He asked in almost wonder. Nakietra's eyes flickered to him. She closed the jar and hopped to her feet. She looked anything but happy..

"Dawn's saving grace," She said softly as she stared at it. Pain reflected in her eyes as well as the golden light. Kurogane wondered for a moment why this one vial was causing her internal pain. Suddenly, she dashed to the stairs and took the steps two at a time. Kurogane followed her up, curious to see what she was going to do as they burst into Dawns room.

Dawn's room was defiantly made for a little girl. Her covers and pillows had lace around the edges and everything was in pale pastel colors that signified innocence. Dawn was in her bed talking about how her mother was going to come home from work and make her soup because she was sick. Jack listened, his face defiantly in pain, but Dawn didn't notice. Sakura did though, and it was tearing her apart from where she sat at the edge of the bed.

Jack stroked her hand with his thumb. His hand was shaking but Dawn didn't seem to feel it. Nakietra paused just inside the room and watched for a moment. The scene destroyed her and her own internal conflict disappeared completely. Jack looked up at Nakietra with an amazed look. He couldn't say anything at all.

"I can save her," Nakietra said in a hurried tone and darted around to the other side of the bed, "Pick her head up." Jack did as he was told. Ever so gently, Nakietra eased the cork from the slim bottle. Once it was free, she slowly brought the vial to Dawn's lips and poured its contents down her throat. All the while, Jack kept repeating that it was medicine that would make her better, hoping it would get through to her. It did and she swallowed without any sort of resistance.

Before their eyes, Dawn became an angel just for a few moments. The golden liquid shone through her skin and traced her body in all of ancient symbols. As it did so, her body came back to life before their eyes. Dawn's pale skin turned back to its pinkish shade while her cheeks flushed rosy red as they had before she had gotten sick. All the way down to her fingers and toes, her body filled out into a healthy girl's. No longer was she pale or bone thin, she was now a true girl that had a chance to dream and live a good life. Tears shone in Jack's eyes as he watched Dawn come to life, while Nakietra watched with a longing that only Kurogane could see, tears and pain twisting her face as she looked down at the empty bottle which she clenched in her hands.

**Nakietra**

"_Nakia, I won't force you to drink it. Promise me that you won't throw it away though?" Hiro said to me. His voice was shaking with emotion. I looked up at him, my eyes getting distracted by the knots of the Elder Tree at his back on purpose. They were bigger than my head but were so soft. The nectar from the tree's fruit, which only bloomed once every thousand years, could heal any sickness or injury. We found one of those fruits, and Hiro got it and squeezed its juice into a small vial we had._

"_I promise I won't waste it," I told my brother before wrapping my arms around his neck. He smelled of sweat after his climb up and down the tree and his jacket felt rough against my arms. It wasn't like the smooth leather one our mother had tanned specifically for him, but it filled its purpose of protecting him._

Hiro, I used it when I needed it just like you wanted me to. I hope you're proud of me for using it on Dawn instead of me. I've had a good life, better than any other girl from our home could ever have. I feel…like I've lost though. There's nothing for me after I save out home…so why do I feel like I just made the worst choice I can in my life.

I watch Dawn sit up. I remember I had to help her sit up the other day and also to stand. She throws her arms around Jack and my throat tightens. I miss my brother. I take a step away from the bag and run out of the room. I need to be alone. I can't ruin this because I can't handle the memories. I hate this knife. I hate how clear it makes some of my memories.

I run out the front door. Nero is right behind me as I dart into the trees. I don't feel any better. Tears stream down my cheeks and I gasp for air. I stop by an old tree stump and sit in front of it. I bring my knees up and cry into them. My fingers rip away the bandages around my arms and my fingers make new cuts into my flesh. This is why I don't cut my nails.

"Stop it!" Kurogane yells at me and grabs my wrists. I look up and try to pull them away. He holds me still as I try to claw him with them.

"Leave me alone!" I scream at him and try to kick him. He throws my hands down and pulls me into a tight hug. I squirm but I can't move. I can't hurt him to make him leave me alone. I need to be alone! I can't be near these people!

"Tell me what's wrong," He says as I start to calm down. I collapse my head onto his shoulder. I see Hiro so very clear. I cry harder as I remember so much about him. I hate this knife. I hate the pain it brings me from showing me these memories.

I see us spending days at the lakes for the sole reason that it's hot out. I see the times we took the children with us and I see the nights where it was just me, and him, and Toya splashing in the water and running half-naked through the fields. I see older memories of Hiro teaching me how to draw and then drawing me and our family because he could. I hear his voice calling me his "Blackened Nakia" because whenever I drew my hands turned black from the charcoal. I smelled his strong scent of iron and dust, the smells of war I called them.

I swallow my screams. I can't have him. I can't have Toya just like I couldn't have my cousins. I need to be alone…it's so much harder to be strong when you're alone though. How can I live like this? My mind is going inane seeing these hurtful memories over and over again without anyone to help me with them.

I feel Nero's mind enter mine, but he only dampens my emotions. I dig my fingers into Kurogane's back as the pressure in my head becomes unbearable. It's too much. I can't take it. It slowly goes away though as Nero rips the knife away from me. My connection with them breaks and my body relaxes. Everything hurts, especially my head.

"Are you okay?" He asks finally. I can't say anything.

"I'm sorry," I apologize and tears well up in my eyes again. I must look so weak and insane right now.

"Tell me what's wrong," He says calmly. I can't answer that.

"Why is everything so hard in this life?" I ask. I always asked Hiro. He never had an answer for me. He would just hug tightly and then start talking about something else.

"To make us stronger," He answers. My mind freezes. I wasn't expecting an answer.

"How?" I ask.

"Life tests us to see if we can survive, and in passing those tests we become stronger, both in the body and the mind," He says gently. It was possibly the wisest and more poetic thing I've ever heard him say. He's always been a quiet person, someone who I hated answering.

"Sometimes, the tests are too hard, and we need help those. Those who have doubts and don't ask for help fail, while those that ask usually succeed," He continues.

"Are you trying to say there is no shame in asking for help, or in saying that I can't do something on my own?" I ask after a few minutes. His arms relax around me as I pull back to stare at him. He stares back at me.

"If you truly need help, it's better to ask for it than to die trying to do something impossible," He responds. I swallow hard. His face isn't scolding or disappointed for once. It's almost affectionate. It's strange.

"You don't have to do everything on your own," He tells me. I know this. "You throw yourself into danger without any regard for how anyone else feels about your decision…I didn't know your brother, but I don't think he would he would have let you live your life like this if he was here," He tells me seriously. My throat closes. I can't talk. He's right. Hiro would have tied me up and locked me in a room at this point if he saw all the risks I was taking on my own. I close my eyes and feel two more tears fall.

"Thank you," I say in a broken voice and hug him. He puts and hand on the back of head and one on my back. It's comfortable.

"My brother…you're right about him. He hated me doing anything on my own," I admit in a shaky voice.

"How much older was he to you?" Kurogane asks.

"Eight years. Our mother…lost five children before I was born. I was the only one that lived," I say. I never thought about my unborn siblings or how it might have affected Hiro until now. Maybe he was protective of me because I was the only one that lived.

"Brothers…are usual protective of their younger sisters I've noticed," He says softly. I thought of Jack with Dawn. He did everything to try and give her a worthy life. She likes being protected though, I don't. I like to fight my own battles.

"I've always been treated like glass by everyone," I respond. It was always because I was sick that people treated me differently. I like behind treated like a normal person though. I like being here because to them I'm normal and someone that has to pitied and treated like a fragile doll.

"Did you ever have brothers or sisters?" I ask.

"No," he answers simply. "Wasn't your mother a healer?"

"Yes," I confirm. Even though my mother had married into the profession, she was excellent at it. My father and uncle didn't have a talent for it. My mother actually met my father while she was taking lesson from my grandmamma on healing.

"Did she make that medicine that you gave Dawn?" He asks. My face crumbles and I burry it into his shoulder. Hiro had meant that for me. I feel so guilty.

"No…Hiro got that from a fruit that grows on a special tree. The fruit takes 1000 years to grow and only one starts growing every 500 years," I say through his shirt.

"What does it do?" He asks.

"It heals any injury or sickness, genetic or otherwise," I respond. Jack will scold me when he hears this. He's not my brother. I wish he never acted like it. I pull back and stare at him. There are loose hairs in my eyes sight. Kurogane take the hand away from the back of my head and brushes them behind my ear. I reach back and undo my braid. It's a few days old at this point and needs to be redone.

"I like it when your hair's down," He says slowly. I stare at him.

"No one's ever said that," I say. I wrap the ribbon around my wrist but don't move to redo it yet. I like it when my hair's down too.

"That's because you don't keep it down," He responds. Even Toya's never said that to me and he loved to compliment everything I've ever done. He leans in and I close my eyes. His hand goes to the back of my head and I feel his lips on mine.

I've never had a kiss before. His lips were cold against mine, like ice. He pulls back and I open my eyes to stare at him. Hiro told me that you should never look away from someone if they kiss you.

"We should head back," He says confidently. I nod my head because I don't know what else to say. He stands up first and then helps me up. His hands linger in mine. I curl my hands around his. They feel tiny and delicate in his bigger, harder hands. Hiro's were always rough and chapped but Kurogane's are smoother in a way. He lets go of one of my hands and starts leading me back through the trees. I don't know what to say. This kiss wasn't from pity though. I lean against him and smile. I feel…normal.

Nero leads the way to the house. Kurogane let's go of my hand and opens the door. I don't think we have to say anything to each other to know this has to be a secret. Kurogane steps in first and holds the door open for me. I see Doctor Bangash and I frown. Syaoran is asleep on the couch and Fai is talking to the doctor. Dawn and Jack come out of the kitchen. Both are smiling. I can't smile.

"Jack doesn't lie when he says you're running around already," The doctor says warmly. I don't share the feeling.

"I'm pretty tough that way," I respond. I haven't needed doctors in years. I can't handle taking care of myself.

"I just need to check your burns and talk to you for a few minutes," he says and gestures to the door to the girls' bath. Nero wanders into the kitchen in search of food and leaves me to fend for myself. I walk to the bath, feeling very alone as I walk inside and the doctor follows in behind me.


	16. Goodbye

"Dinner's ready," Jack said a few moments after the door shut closed. He didn't like that everyone is staring at the door and knows what could happen if Nakietra starts yelling like she usually does.

"Nakietra will be out in a few minutes. Don't worry, she's fine," Dawn said happily and disappeared into the kitchen. Jack opened his mouth to say something but then closed it and followed his sister into the kitchen.

"Food time! Food time!" Mokona sang and jumped from his spot on the couch near Syaoran.

"Shhhhh! Syaoran's sleeping," Fai said softly as he picked Mokona up. The two had a shushing fight then which annoyed Kurogane to the point that he preferred to wait for Nakietra rather than go into the kitchen. Syaoran didn't even stir. Kurogane looked into the kitchen and made his decision. He entered the men's bath and listened to Nakietra and the doctor talk. There was still too much he didn't understand. He felt that he needed to understand it though if he wanted to keep everyone safe in the end.

"Your burns should be able to finish healing without bandages. They just need some air and thoughtful consideration before you throw yourself into danger again," The doctor gently scolded. He sounded tired, tired of scolding Nakietra, Jack, and Dawn for their reckless attitudes toward life.

"I know," Nakietra said boredly as she shrugged her clothes back on. She hated using bandages anyways because they stopped her from feeling that part of her body.

"You are not leaving yet. We still need to discuss your medication. Do you know what stage you're at or which medicine you're taking…don't look at me like that," The doctor said as she glared at him. She adjusted the burnt orange dress that the doctor had dressed her in the day before.

"I'm at stage two and I'm taking the clear medicine once a day," She named off.

"Nakietra, you have not been taking it once a day. I can see that through your blood. You can't keep forgetting or pushing until later. You need to take it, it isn't it an option anymore. If you get as bad as you were last night just one more time, you'll be pushed into stage three and that's somewhere you don't want to go," The doctor stressed drastically. Nakietra stared at him and pursed her lips.

"Don't you think I know that?" She asked outraged, "I've been taking medicine like this since I was a baby. I don't need to be told how important it is to take my medicine."

"Then you should put more effort into remembering then or you'll find yourself dead before the year's up," He strictly. "…if you want to keep this a secret from your friends, I suggest you try harder to remember to take the medicine before you collapse and they start to question your health. I will tell them, but other doctors are not as nice as I am," The man said with much more understanding. He took his bag off the ground and left the room.

Nakietra hugged her shoulders and lowered herself to the ground. She knew all too well what stage three was. She was there with her mother when children younger than her entered into stage three. They died within the next month and it was very slow and painful. No amount of medicine could make the pain or suffocation go away. It sounded and looked painful. Nakietra gripped her chest as fear started to take over. She didn't want to go into stage three.

Her head snapped up as she heard the doctor leave. She took two deep breaths and left the room to go have dinner. She didn't feel like eating or talking, but she knew she would need to if she wanted to stay sane just a little bit longer. On the other side of the wall, Kurogane stared at the ground for a few minutes before leaving. All he could think about was how clueless they had all been when it came to Nakietra.

Morning came just as usual for the town, until people opened their doors at least. Ron's treasures and money were found sitting on porches and in front of doors. Everything he had stolen from the people was returned. Old men rejoiced as they found their oldest family treasures and women rejoiced to have their hard worked for money.

Guards rode into town with carts filled with free food and drink for the town's people as well as wood and raw metal to fix everything broken in town. Song and dance broke out in the middle of the streets as the news was spread. Ron was penniless. Every town he went to has kicked him out because he now has no money, no keys, and no legal rights over anything. The guards made sure his other rooms were stripped bare and that everyone was informed that the nightmare was finally over.

Dawn and Jack got nothing though. All the praise and glory went to the guards that betrayed Ron. They were invited into homes and showered in praises for freeing them. Jack watched all this from his roof while Dawn sat outside in the sun with Nakietra and Nero.

People came over though in fact. Middle aged men and old women forced money into Jack's hands, much more than he could ever carry indeed. Some young women came over with freshly baked foods for Dawn and even pulled her and her brother into their dances. Nakietra smiled as she watched Jack finally be accepted back into town and felt good that she had saved Dawn instead of herself. Then she went to get the others so they could leave.

Each of them lined up outside, and that was when they saw Dawn and Jack running back to the house. Nakietra stopped and waited for them only because if would cruel to leave at that exact moment.

"You're leaving already?" Jack asked breathlessly.

"I don't have a lot of time left. I need to save my home while I still can," She whispered to him. His face lost much of his happiness but he stood up tall and proud and offered his hand to Nakietra.

It was nice to see you again Nakietra," Jack started. Nakietra took his hand with a small smile and watched Jack bow and lightly kiss it like a gentle man.

"If you treat every girl like that, you'll never go hungry again," She said. He smiled. She turned to Dawn and watched her dart into the house.

"Wait!" She shouted. Nakietra waited with a very confused look on her face. Dawn was out in a minute with a huge brown coat in her arms. Nakietra's face fell into shock.

"Hiro left it…in Jack's room….before you left…last time. I thought…maybe you'd want it," She said breathlessly. Everyone watched Nakietra for her reaction. They watched as she reached out her shaking hands and then watch them grab the coat and clutch it to her chest. The coat was tanned leather with a few repaired nicks and scratches around the sleeves. noticed her shaking hands as well as the longing look on Nakietra's as she reached out for it. Nakietra inhaled deeply and felt a few tears roll down her cheeks. It still smelled like her brother. Sakura saw this and wrapped her arms around Nakietra's shoulders. Dawn watched Nakietra with a sad smile as she played with something in her hand. It shone in the light and looked gold and thin, but it was hard to tell what it was through Dawn's nervous fingers.

"I looked through everything for this…thank you so much," Nakietra managed in an unbroken voice. She still clutched the coat to her, but she wiped the tears away and held her head up high. Dawn took a few steps forward and gently pried one of her arms away. Nakietra held it out as she put her golden bracelet on her. Nakietra's lip quivered as she watched the gold shine in the light.

"I don't want you to forget it again," She said with a happier smile. Nakietra stared down at it. Sakura let go of her and stared at it too.

"Thank you," Nakietra managed. Dawn grabbed Nakietra and hugged her tightly.

"I'm going to miss you, but I'll never forget how you saved me from Ron, and how you tried to save these people from him, and how you finally broke him even though you were so scared because of what he did to you," She said with tears in her voice.

"Dawn," Was all Nakietra could muster.

"I won't forget you either. You showed me something that I've never seen in this town; bravery. And you and Hiro showed me how to live my life in a better way than through stealing" Jack said with a small smile. Dawn pulled away with tears running from her cheeks. Jack pulled her back a few steps til they were safely away from the group.

"Good-bye," Nakietra said tearfully just before they were engulfed in light and off to the next world.


	17. A World of Heartache

The world they know as Mokona as they were lightly dropped onto their feet for the first time in. Syaoran and Nero were at the top, Fai and Sakura to the left and Nakietra and Kurogane to the right. They waited for danger to appear, but it didn't. They were on a gently used dirt path. Nakietra looked around just like everyone else. Behind them was a thin forest and in front of them was a very modern looking city. Nakietra's eyes locked on a tanned man standing at the edge of the city. From here she could see his coal eyes and dark hair that was styled in a way she had known since she knew how to hold a pen.

Mokona bounced onto Nakietra's head but even that wasn't enough to shake her out of it. Her eyes were fixed on the man who was now jogging to them. As he got closer, her mind froze up more and more. She pulled her hood down and watched the sun shine off his black hair. She could never get that part right when she drew him. He stopped in front of them and surveyed their group.

"Toya?" She questioned softly and took a few steps forward. Syaoran ran back to Sakura and stopped her from calling out his name. They learned that calling out names can bring them so much trouble if they weren't careful. Nakietra knew that better than anyone else.

"You're Nakietra?" He asked. She took a step back in surprise. This wasn't her world and yet this Toya knows her name.

"Yes, and you're Toya," She responded, resuming her strong stance warily. Something wasn't right here she felt.

"My landlady said you would be here. You and your group are to come with me to see her," He said like it was an enormous chore.

"Who's your landlady?" Nakietra asked carefully. Nero himself looked confused as he moved around and examined Toya from every angle. Nero never understood the concept of encountering the same exact people but with them having different memories and different worlds. He sniffed Toya and found that the scent was a little different from his Toya that he knew.

"Emika Ah'Kon," He said and turned to leave. Nakietra froze and so did her group. No one moved because she didn't more. Her eyes were blank as she stared out into space.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Kurogane asked strongly. Toya sighed and turned around.

"She said to tell you 'I have what you seek and will give it to you when you prove…you…deserve it'," Toya said stumbling over the last part. His eye brows furrowed as he seemed to whisper the phrase out loud to make sure it was right. "That's right," He said and focused full on the group. Nakietra was out of it and didn't respond. Kurogane walked up next to her and saw that her mind wasn't completely there right now.

"It has to be the feather," Syaoran hushed with triumph from behind. Kurogane heisted and then nodded his head okay. This was still fishy but he would let it go until he could talk to Nakietra about what's going on.

"We'll trust you for now," He said. Toya turned around and started leading the way once more while the group followed. Nero had to push Nakietra's knees to get her moving and even then it was slowly. Eventually, she put a hand to her head and rubbed her eyes like she was regaining consciousness.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly. Nakietra looked up at him. Her eyes were still half out of it.

"Yeah…I just…I don't know," She stumbled along.

"Did you know this Emia?" He asked.

"Emika, Emika Ah'Kon" She corrected, pronouncing each syllable individually as Em-e-a. "It's my mother's name," She said very softly and gripped her shoulders. She was in pain he could tell. He paused.

"What happened to your mother?" He asked softly. She looked down.

"Not now," She said simply, her voice wavering. Stealthily, he cloaked his hand and took her own. She squeezed it tightly but didn't look up. They didn't speak again.

Toya stopped in front of the tallest brick building in the city. It was near the center of the city and was surrounded by children. In the windows on all five floors, there were children dancing around or playing games and in the spacious green backyard was even more children. Over the front glass door was a sign that read, "Kon Orphanage". Toya went inside and everyone followed. In a room to the left of what looked like a reception area was an area filled with children three and younger with older children taking care of them. Toya glanced over but then his head snapped the other direction when they all heard a voice.

"Toya," A sweet voiced woman called from a room to the right. It came from behind a rose carved oak door that was closed. Toya went to the door and opened it without knocking. He went to the side and held the door open for everyone to come in before shutting it.

Standing before them, in the light of an open window, was a beautifully thin black woman. She was short and had light blue eyes that examined each of them as they entered. Her hair was braided and hung over her right shoulder as she stood in a very familiar proud stance. Her white dress was tight and reached all the way to the floor. Her feet were bare and she kept her hands on her hips.

"I brought them Emika," Toya said with respect as he walked into her sight. The woman frowned at him and only him.

"Toya, I told you to call me Mother. Now go gather the children from the street. It's too dangerous for them out there," She gently waved off. Toya sighed but left without complaint.

"Please, sit," She said to the group as the door shut. She smiled as she watched the chairs each of them picked. Fai sat down first, taking a plain light wooden one in front of the door; Syaoran and Sakura took a blue, impossibly huge, hard backed chair that probably could have fit one more person; Nakietra curled up her legs on a rocking chair with Nero safely sitting on the floor close by, and Kurogane took a high back chair nearby her. There was silence as the woman examined them. Nakietra pulled up her hood as the memories of her mother started to eat her alive.

"Mrs. Emika-" Syaoran started but she cut him off.

"Emika. I'm not that old," She corrected, "and I know what you're going to ask." She reached into the folds of her dress and pulled out a perfect pink feather.

"The feather!" He exclaimed and jumped up. Emika returned it to her dress right away as she glared at the boy. Syaoran froze.

"I need to know that you are the right ones. This feather gives me the power to see certain things, and I want to make sure it will be used for good before I just give it away for nothing," She stated. The group was silent and she looked around to all of them. Syaoran took his seat again, watching the woman very carefully and feeling very much like a little boy. Almost like when Nakietra scolds him.

"I'll test you in my own way, one at a time," She said and looked to Syaoran, "I'll start with you since you're so eager. This takes a full day, and until I'm finished, I have other things for the rest of you to do," She looked to Nakietra, "I would like you to go to the fields near where you landed, and pick some flowers," She looked to Sakura, "And I want you to go shopping. One of you men will accompany each girl," She said and waved them away. The group looked around a second before Nakietra got up and started leaving. Everyone started following her, except for Syaoran.

**Nakietra**

My head was spinning with memories. I saw my mother giving orders to people in medical emergencies just as she had now. I keep smelling the herbs she used to dry in our house and keep hearing her voice. It's always sweet but direct. She never danced around anything. She never lied as far as I know. I hate these memories. I wish I was strong enough to not need this stupid knife.

I go outside and take three big breathes. My throat closes as I see Toya with Six children clinging to him. He stops and looks me over before heading inside.

"Wait here," He says tiredly and brushes past me. I move out of the way as more children follow behind him. Toya never did like little kids as much. Soon, Toya is back, holding some things as my group comes out. He talks to Sakura firs and hands her a deep basket and a piece of paper. Fai looks over her shoulder at the list and Nero hugs her side. He sent me singles that he wants to go with Sakura since she and Fai weren't good fighter. Something's wrong here he feels. I don't know whether to agree with him or not.

"Emika like all kinds of flower, but she doesn't like them wilting. She think you know what to do, so here," Toya says and hands me a square basket that wasn't as deep as Sakura's. "The field is just up the street. It's a straight shot, can't miss it," He finishes and leaves to gather more stray children. I watch him leave and clutch the basket. I miss Toya.

"Are you coming?" I ask Kurogane as I start to walk away. He watches Sakura start the other way before following next to me. I clutch the basket and stare at the ground.

"Someone has to keep you out of trouble," He says with a small smile.

"I don't get in trouble," I ask and smile slightly

"You always do," He responds.

"You make it sound like I look for trouble. It's not my fault trouble likes to snap at me," I tell him. I remember when Hiro came back from battles injured and when we were traveling and we just barely lived through something extremely dangerous.

"Sure," He says, his smile growing bigger. I stare at that smile. I like it. He doesn't seem so…strict or destructive with it. In battle it makes him look sinister though.

"I wouldn't lie to you," I say with my own smile getting bigger. The memories are starting to fade.

"I couldn't tell if you did," He admits as we dodged people on the side walk. My smile falls a little. I never liked lying, but it was always necessary. It's still necessary in order for me to stay sane.

"Race?" I question as we move around an old couple taking a stroll. He looks sideways at me before taking off. "Hey!" I yell and bolted to catch up. He's easily beating me with his longer legs and healthier body, but I have something he doesn't. I activate two Speed ruins on my legs and I blast past him. I reach the trees and look back as he's still running. I take a seat in the shade and lie down. The sky is beautiful today

"You cheated," He jokingly accuses when he catches up. I turned my head and look up at him with a smile.

"YOU were the one that cheated. I just used my available resources to win," I respond with a smirk on my face. He shakes his head and offers me a hand. I take it. He doesn't let it go through once I'm up. Instead, he leads me into the forest. I curl my hand around his. I hate not being able to touch people.

"There are some flowers," He states right away. He point to a clump of Blue-Eyed Maries. I guide him to it, letting the basket hang from my other arm. As we get closer, I let go of his hand and replace it with the basket. Ever so carefully, I break a few flowers away from the clump. I looked around for more and find some Dutchman's Breeches to accompany them.

"Is there anything in the basket?" I ask as I slowly walk over to the white flowers. I break a bunch away and slowly built a bouquet around my Blue-Eyed Maries. I hear him open it and then hear the chink of some glass.

"There ix a glass jar with sheets of tissue in it, some string, and a pocket knife," He names off.

"Can you cut some twine, please?" I ask and turn back to him. He has the basket on the ground and is kneeling down on one knee next to it. I kneel down on both knees and even out the flowers with my fingernails. He cuts the twine and holds it out to me. I take it and start tying the flowers together.

"That's nice," He compliments and I feel him watch me.

"Why don't you go find some other flowers?" I ask while I tried to focus on my one task. He hesitates but then says okay and leaves. I tie a simple knot around the flowers and then wrapped one of the tissues around base of the flowers to keep them fresh. I incorporated the extra tissue into a Boa knot then, letting my hands go on auto-pilot. The work was calming.

I remembered doing this for my mother so many times; both with herbs for healing, and flowers for the Queen's bedroom, who she attended to daily. The sickly sweet smell of the thin paper makes my stomach churn as usual, but it's familiar. While I wait for Kurogane to return, I inspected the basket. There are three removable boards. I have no doubts that my "mother" will want it packed with flowers.

It didn't take me long to make enough bouquets to fill the basket. Kurogane found several clearings abundant with flowers and brought them back by the arm loads. By the time we were done, only a few hours had probably passed at the most. I look back at the city and dread going back. I don't like modern cities, and I don't want to see the two people I know from my world.

Kurogane picks up the basket and I look up. He takes my hand and leads me away, deeper into the trees. He brings me to an untouched clearing that's both shady and sunny. I lie down in the grass and stare up at the available sky. Kurogane lies down next to me. I feel him playing with my hand. I start tapping a rhythm with my fingers. He seems to enjoy that. I look over to him and smile.

"Why are you playing with my fingers?" I asked.

"You have very small hands," He says. I give a small laugh.

"Tell me about your mother," He asks gently then. I stare up at the sky.

"My mother was a healer. She married into it through my father. Our village is only allowed to have one healer at a time because of the amount of work in the fields and it was my grandmamma for a long time. MY father and uncle had no talent for it, so she took on my mother. My mother was…she learned very fast…The queen of our village was always really sick. Since my mother was a healer, she was called in to take care of her. That was long before I was born. My mother took care of the townspeople too, but she only worked at night when everyone was supposed to be home. One night, she didn't come back. The next day, a friend of my father's told me that she and the Queen had been killed that night with a common dagger," I say. My mind was too numb from the earlier memories for me to cry or feel any pain.

"Did they ever find who did it?" He asks softly, gripping my hand tightly. Maybe I was the one gripping his hand.

"The armory in the castle wasn't locked or guarded that night because everyone had been deployed to fight a new battle on the border. Everyone was a suspect, but no one was ever accused. There were too many people," I say slowly. The funeral was running through my head now. I was trying not to remember it. I remember singing for her.

"_**On the other side of time, there is a city of wind**_

_**Come on, Take me with you**_

_**Make the white flower's dream come true**_

_**Take my hand with your sweet fingers**_

_**Come on, I want to be guided down the long road to your side**_

_**An unending song in the early afternoon**_

_**The two awaken and become one**_

_**Knowing the meaning of happiness for the first time**_

_**Take me with you**_

_**An unending say in the early afternoon**_

_**The two awaken and become one**_

_**Knowing the meaning of happiness for the first time**_

_**Take me with you**_

_**The other side of unseen dreams**_

_**Come. On the two of us can take that long road**_

_**To the city of wind"**_

_I remember singing as the sky poured. It was freezing that day, but everyone showed up. The burning was held outside of town instead of in the graveyard because there were so many people. I was crying and soaking yet and my voice was breaking every other line. There was no way I could stop singing though because that would have been an insult to my mother's memory. Hiro was near the back of the crowd. His horse was near death and he only arrived near the very end. The King had allowed him to come back from battle just for the funeral._

_The song ended and I couldn't help but look to the sky as the fire was lit over my mother's body in the shallow pit someone else dug. An oiled cloth had been spread out above it to keep the rain off, but still the fire sputtered and spitted as scattered droplets flew in with the bitter wind. Wind was always a good sign at funerals. _

_My eyes closed as the rain burned my eyes worse than my tears. Hiro came up to the front and lead me before I could collapse away before I could collapse. It was too much for me at the time. I hadn't taken my medicine, I was grieving, and the smell was awful. I watched my father burn from the back of the crowd, but I barely smelled the stench of burning flesh. _

A rough finger wiped the tears away. "How old were you?" He asks.

"Ten," I answer simply and swallowed hard.

"I was about ten when my mother died," I hear him say quietly. I roll over in the grass to face him before opening my eyes. He looks. He puts a hand in back of my head and presses our foreheads together. I let out a shaky breath but I feel better.

"What was she like?" I ask. I picture a warrior woman with short black hair and tanned skin like his. Strong, proud, but acted like a mother when she needed to be. I picture her like my mother.

"She was a priestess. Our town relied on her to keep demons away with the barrier and it made her very weak. She could barely walk some days, and I wasn't allowed to see her most days. Everyone thought I had too much energy to be around her," He said silently, pausing before each sentence.

"Both our mothers were at the center of trouble," I note and smile through my tears. In families, mothers always seem to be the strong ones. Toya's mom (I remember from what he told me) died defending him when a rogue group of soldiers invaded their homeland. After that, him, his father, and baby sister came to stay with our King as his personal doctor.

"Hm," he mutters. "You mentioned once that your father was gone also," He states. I close my eyes.

"He died when I was eight. In war. He was gone a lot so I don't remember him much. He always smelled like smoke though, and his hands were three times the size of mine," I say softly, trying to draw up a picture of him in my mind. I can't. I always need the few sketches of him in my book, faded as they were, to remember him. I see Hiro though, riding on a horse behind father, both coming back from the war when I was young.

"Did you have any other family after…your parents' deaths?" He asks gently.

"I had Hiro," I respond, gripping his hand to stop more tears from coming. Hiro was still too much, and thinking of my cousins was also a lot. I was never allowed to see them again after their mother banned me from the house.

"Did you two stay in the palace after that? He questions.

"Yes…we didn't have anywhere else to go. My uncle and his wife hate me," I stumble along, feeling my face curl into frown. I take a few shaky breaths and clutch his hand. Another painful memory that won't stop haunting me; Axial.

"Why?" he asks.

"I killed their youngest daughter," I say. I squeezed my eyes as images of the fire filter into my mind. I felt the hand rest on my shoulder.

"I doubt you did. It was a situation that you probably couldn't control," He says calmly, pulling me into him.

"It was, and yet I am blamed," I respond softly. Neither of us could have known the house was going to get torched when we left.

We lay there in silence. My tears dried on my face and my mind faded into a state between sleep and being awake. There were no more memories. Kurogane's body tensed then and he tapped my back twice with his fingers. My eyes shot open and I felt him pull back his hands slowly. Something's wrong here. I put my hand on my knife.

I focus my ears; footsteps. They're careful, but you can still hear their feet moving through the grass as well as half crunches made from them stepping on tree roots/branches. There're multiple people. We lock eyes. He rests his hand on his sword and I eased my knife out of its sheaf on my hip. I have it all the way out and that's when they strike.

I jump to my feet, only a second behind Kurogane, but it cost me. An object smashed into the side of my head. I stagger and lost my knife. I feel a bag go over my head. I reach up but someone grabs my wrists and ties them tight with rope. I stagger into someone's arms. I'm dizzy but I try to work around it. They lift me up and try to tie my feet. I jerk my foot up and contact with someone's nose I know as they scream and shout.

I keep moving in their arms, not letting them get a good grip on me. I can't hear Kurogane fighting at all and it's bothering me. Someone grabs my head and jerks it to the side. I feel a shot and then liquid fire is blasted through my veins. My vision turns black and I know they have me.

Kurogane was left unconscious in the clearing while the men clothed in black picked up their limp bundle and headed into town. Nakietra's golden knife glinted in the sun as it lay perfectly untouched in the grass. An hour passed before Kurogane regained consciousness, but it was too late by that time. The group had already struck again.

In another part of the city, Fai and Sakura are assaulted by the exact same men. Fai is knocked out right away while Sakura is grabbed and taken away with the same drug coursing through her veins as Nakietra. Nero is able to bite and claw a few of them, but they are able to tie him to a post and leave him. By the time the men had regained consciousness and made it back to Emika, the trails was cold, Emika gathered the group in her special room along with Toya and some other older children.

"Do you know who did this?" Kurogane was the first to ask after everyone was settled. He touched the side of his head which was already turning purple. The woman's blue eyes looked down on him. She could see the suspicion coursing in his mind.

"No, I've never heard of a group in black kidnapping young women. Be quiet now and listen," She commanded. Kurogane didn't look happy at all, but he shut up. "Toya, you and the others look for clues at the scenes and report back when you find the smallest thing that you believe will help." The older boy nodded his head and the group silently left, letting the door click closed behind them. Emika watched them go before looking around at who was left, her gaze finally resting on Nero. "You have a powerful asset here, and yet you overlook him and turned directly to me it seems," She said and looked back at all of them. Suddenly, the group understood what she was saying.

"Nero, can you take us to Nakietra?" Syaoran asked, kneeling down next to the wolf. He patted the ground once with his paw; a single for yes.

"Why didn't he go on his own though?" Fai asked absently. His knockout was caused by a jolt of electricity running through his body. He still felt sluggish and his mind wasn't completely functional because of it.

"There's too many of them for him to take on his own," Kurogane responded understandably as he stared down at the wolf. Nero cried once and jumped to his feet. He wanted to go.

"I don't have fighters here, but I can try to get some authorities to find and follow you. There's no time to waste waiting for them to come here, so go now," Emika said and hurried out of the room, the door slamming against the opposite wall. With no further encouragement, the group headed outside where Nero hurriedly began to follow the trail.


	18. That One Uncatchable Memory

On the west side of the city, opposite of the forest, was a building. It was unimpressive, easily missed among the similar grey buildings around it. This was the poor district where no one lived anymore. It was scheduled for a complete renovation to make the buildings livable again, but the city had yet to get to it. One building stood out just a little bit among the others. This building only had two floors while the other's had three. This building was the only one with a basement.

It was cleverly hidden underneath the floor boards. The only way inside was through a door at the rear o the building that simply looked like a back door. The door led to a stair case going down into the dark. If one went far enough, they would come to an open doorway illuminated by one huge computer screen that was over thirty inches across. In front of the screen was a huge, bulky set of wires that made up a computer as well as a metal table. On this table is where Nakietra was strapped down and her head fixed with a helmet with wires running from it to the computer. Along with the cages along the right wall, there was barely enough room to move around.

On the table, Nakietra is strapped down with metal cuffs around her wrists, ankles, and waist. On her head is a hat entirely made of wires pressing down around her chin, leaving angry red marks from it being too tight.

A man in a white lab coat is typing at the computer now. His face and hair are covered with a black shroud, but he is obviously older than the kidnappers that stand to the left side of the room. His hands are wrinkled and fragile, but still he looks powerful with the impressive amount of guards standing around the room with their swords and weapons easily within reach.

Sakura shakes herself awake and peers out of her bottom row cage. Even though the room is dark, she can see the guards all around the room, especially the two on either side of her age. She sees the computer as well as the old man at its head. Then she sees Nakietra and she breaths in sharply. She can see her friend bound and also unconscious. She hears her friend moan and then notices the TV screen change colors.

"Mama! Papa! Hiro!" An ear splitting child's voice explodes into the room. There's the sound of the girl crying and panicking before she screams their names again with clear and defined fear. Sakura watches the screen and covers her mouth. It's Nakietra as a child. She's still wearing her black dress but it's too big for her. Sakura scans the rooms frantically and rests her eyes on the screen. There are booming noises on the screen and Nakietra pauses.

"The monster's coming! Help me! Hiro! Mama! Papa!" She screams and starts running. There's no one responding to her cries as she runs into never ending darkness. She stumbles over dress but keeps on moving. The image shrinks down to a square and is put in the left hand corner of the screen. A new scene comes alive.

"Show us where it is," The man at the computer says slowly as he turns a dial and then types a few codes into the computer. He touches the dial again and turns it only slightly as a scrapbook of images explode across the screen. Sakura can barely understand any of them. He stops and types again.

It's Emika's, but she looks a little older than now and is wearing a heavy black dress that much more sorrowful looking than Nakietra's. It's raining, but she looks very strong from the camera's position looking up at her. Her hands are visible from this position and she's singing in a foreign language that has an accent just like Nakietra's.

"**On the other side of time, there is a city of wind**

**Come on, Take me with you**

**Make the white flower's dream come true**

**Take my hand with your sweet fingers**

**Come on, I want to be guided down the long road to your side**

**An unending song in the early afternoon**

**The two awaken and become one**

**Knowing the meaning of happiness for the first time"**

She pauses and looks to the sky. She looks like she's very far away now, almost like she's seeing something in those grey clouds that no one else can see. The screen goes foggy and blurs until she's just a dark figure surrounded by black. It goes black then for a few moments until she starts singing again. The camera shows a wooden platform that is stained dark with rain and rot.

"**Take me with you**

**An unending say in the early afternoon**

**The two awaken and become one**

**Knowing the meaning of happiness for the first time**

**Take me with you**

**The other side of unseen dreams**

**Come. On the two of us can take that long road**

**To the city of wind" **

Her voice never cracks even though she obviously breaking. She continues on with her fingernails digging into one of her hands. Her voice is blocked out those as the camera goes black and the sounds of a child crying grow louder. The child is struggling not to cry at all.

"Nakia, it's alright to cry," A man says with a strong accent. It sounds like the person is talking to Nakietra, but it's hard for Sakura because she doesn't understand the pronunciation of (Na-e-ya). The camera looks up as a young black boy. He's crying, but he's also strong by the way he's holding it inside and having his eyes completely focused on Emika. The camera turns to her again and watches as she lights a torch and tosses it into the pit in front of her. The camera is pushed away then and is moving quickly through the people behind it.

"Too early or too late? I can't tell. I will go forward for now," The scientist said and twisted the dial some more.

No one looks to Nakietra's real body as blood drips down the right side of her cheek as she cries blood. Slowly it forms a small pile on the metal table that no one notices at all. A new scene blossoms on the screen. The Nakietra in the corner is still running into the darkness without a destination.

"Nakia, watch out!" A man yells in a rich voice happy voice right before a huge splash erupts. The TV goes black from its jumble of images and there are swishes of rushing water blocking out every other sound. There's the sound of someone breaking the surface as the camera swims into focus on a person.

"Toya!" Nakietra shouts in a very annoyed voice that Sakura has heard many times before. Sakura drew herself close to the bars. Nakietra had said Toya…her brother's name and the person in front of the camera is defiantly her brother. It was almost like this was a memory, Nakietra's memory. Every time the camera went black it was like she was blinking.

Another blink went now and Nakietra was looking down at her soaked brown skirt and thin grey shirt. "Now my clothes are wet," She complains but her tone turns lighter as she looks back to Toya. He's on the beach laughing like crazy on the ground with a huge black man laughing alongside him. Nakietra narrowed her eyes at them and shook her head.

"Back more maybe?" The scientist mused as he played with the dial. The scene changed again.

It was raining again in this, but much more heavily. Nakietra is look out at a crowd of people from some sort of high place. She's resting her gaze on every face before she starts to sing. Sakura closes her eyes as she recognizes the song that Emika was singing. Her voice keeps cracking, but the song is defiantly the same.

She pauses in the same place and looks over the people again. Her gaze stops on a tall black man toward the back, riding a top a panting horse. His skin is darker than Nakietra's and his hair is dripping wet with rain as he stares at her with a face so sad it made Sakura start crying. Sakura recognized his face as the black boy's from the first scene, and also from the man who was laughing at her in the one before. Who is he?

Nakietra tears run red with blood from both eyes now. The computer is torturing her just as much as her knife does. It's poking through her memories and picking which ones to make her experience fully. She feels each of those memories that they just pass through though, even if it's only one images brought completely to life.

"No, it must be hidden underneath these…false memories. There must be a door somewhere. Somewhere more recent maybe?" The man questioned to himself as he mulled over the decision. He turned the dial forward.

There's smoke everywhere in this scene. A huge house is burning and is far beyond saving. The screen jostles and turns black as Nakietra tugs and pulls at a man with his back to her. He has black hair and tanned skin. He's pulling her forward and reaching for the fire. Nakietra huffs and manages to pull him back a step before burying her face into his back.

"Toya, stop!" She half yells half cries.

"Father! Sakura!" He yells with a tormented voice. Sakura freezes at the sound of her own name being called. What is going on? Did Nakietra…know her, or a copy of her?

"They're gone, we can't do anything!" She yells at him as tears clouded her vision whenever her eyes opened.

"No!" He refuses and pushes her off him. She stumbles to the ground, just glancing at her now broken bracelet. She shrugs it off and rushes forward to her friend. Sakura sees the bracelet glint gold in the light. Could it be the one Dawn gave her?

"Toya!" She yells and stumbles over a stretch of uneven ground. She looks down and watches her foot catch in a hole and she follows forward. She looks up as the black man jumps over the stone fence nearby and tackles Toya to the ground before he can reach the fire. The fire explodes out as the front wall collapses. The black man pulls Toya to his feet and drags him away to safety. Always that same man…what is his relation to Nakietra? Is this…is this maybe Hiro her brother that Syaoran told her and Fai about?

"More recent maybe," The man said and twisted the dial forward.

A familiar place swims into view. It's a top Tomoyo's skyscraper. Even Tomoyo is there, standing in front of Nakietra with tears glistening in her eyes. Nakietra looks to her right where the black man stands. He looks at her and then they both look to Tomoyo.

"Do you really have to go?" Tomoyo asks softly.

"Yes," The man responds in a gentle voice. It's the voice as before though, that's or certain. She holds out a clothed package with both hands. Nakietra takes it and unwraps it. In her hands is the golden knife.

"I think…you should have it. I have a feeling it will you somehow in your journey…maybe it'll remind you to come back one day," Tomoyo says sadly. Nakietra grips the knife and looks up.

"It's never certain where we go…we'll try though. I promise," Nakietra says her voice soft but her accent is so much stronger than now.

"I know, but I can always hope," Tomoyo says with a tear rolling down her cheek as she smiles.

"Hope is better than nothing," The man recites.

"Goodbye Hiro, Goodbye Nakietra," Tomoyo says as more tears fall. Nakietra looks to Hiro and the screen goes black.

"Thank you Tomoyo. Goodbye," Nakietra says. The mystery man is Hiro just like she thought. Sakura cried for her friend. It was no wonder why she wouldn't talk about him. Everywhere in her memories, Hiro's is there through the best and the worst time. Now he's dead, gone from her life and she's traveling alone. Her friend must feel so alone most of the time when she sees them interact with each other like a family would.

"Where is it?" The man shouts in frustration. Blood is pouring from Nakietra's ears now. A million questions form in Sakura's head, but she couldn't even try to figure any of them out on her own with her own sadness clouding her mind. There was no doubt that most of these memories were painful for Nakietra, and it made her cry worse knowing that she couldn't remember one bad memory about herself. Everything she remembered from the feathers was always good, even though it made her seem lonely. She's never lost anyone as far she knows…

The scene changes again. Sakura looks up and is amazed at the clarity and beauty. Light is flitting through the trees, making patterns on Nakietra's arms stretched out beside her. She's tracing the knots on the gigantic roots below her.

"Nakia, I won't force you to drink it. Promise me that you won't throw it away though?" Hiro says to her. His voice is shaking with emotion, but it still sounds strong. Nakietra looks up at him, her eyes focusing more on the knots of the giant tree at his back than him.

"I promise I won't waste it," She tells him and wraps her arms around his neck. He's wearing a jacket of soft leather, not like the one Dawn gave her. The scene fades away and directly into a new one without a break.

Nakietra is staring down at the ground, glancing to her side every few seconds. Hiro is kneeling with her. The dirt below them is hard packed and beyond Hiro's shoulders is an endless expanse of trees far below them. Sakura guesses they are on a hill or mountain right now.

"Witch Marina, will you please grant out request to save our homeland?" The man asks in a strong but respectful voice. Nakietra fixes on the ground again.

"You dare come to this world, yell my name across half the country, challenge me to a sword fight, reject my offered of apprenticeship, and still you think I will grant your request?" The woman asks laughingly. Nakietra looks to her brother. He's looking up, determinedly, at what must be Marina. From Nakietra's vision, all that could be seen were the bottoms of long green robes that glint in the sunlight. Could this be the same woman Nakietra is looking for now, Sakura wondered.

"Yes," He answers confidently.

"I still don't understand what I will get from doing this," Marina says, leaning over. Her chest was visible now as well as hazel curls dripping down to hide her face. The top half of her was dressed in sparkling gold fabric with green swirled around the edges of her sleeves.

"The weapon tormenting our land, and this," He says, pushing forward a clothed bundle. It was longer that Hiro's shoulders and probably as wide as Nakietra's small hands side by side. A perfectly white hand reaches down and grasps the bundle by the side. Her nails are painted gold. She rises up and the cloth quickly falls to the ground.

"You know what I like. It's a deal…but won't you consider one more time my offer of apprenticeship?" She asks seductively, "I could teach you so much more than you could ever learn in those slave wars you fight in."

"No," The man answers sharply and rises along with Nakietra beside him. The screen fades and drifts back to the screen of just Nakietra running through the dark. She looks her current age now, but when she looks over her shoulder at the camera, fear is clearly visible in her eyes as well as her body as she shakes.

"Hiro! Hiro! Help me!" She screams in terror. Sakura scarcely breathes. She's never heard Nakietra sound scared, let alone terrified. She wasn't endlessly running forward anymore, but now fixed to the spot she was currently in as she looks around into the darkness.

"Hiro! Where are you? Hiro!" She keeps yelling. Tears are streaming down her face. "Hiro! I need you! Please, help me…I can't do this on my own!" She screams and falls to her knees. She clutches her shoulders as she shakes and cries at the ground. Sakura forces herself to look away at her friend on the screen as her crying becomes worse. She looks over to her friend on the table then.

"Nakietra," She breaths and presses herself against the bars. Blood glistens on the table and also marks her face. Sakura represses the urge to scream by pressing a hand to her mouth.

"I hear you little mousy. Why don't you stop running? You're the last one alive here," A creepy voice sounds over through the darkness. Nakietra screams in the computer and clutches her head. She screams out in real life too, but her voice is garbled as blood forces its way up her throat. The blackness disappears and a scene comes on the screen. Sakura looks at the screen.

It's a mix of regal and ancient looking surroundings. It's like there are two memories over one. Sakura watches it and she hears two voices over lapping each other. Both are men but they're saying different things at the same time. Sakura can't understand any of it.

"Almost there," The scientist breathes and types.

Suddenly, a door is heard being forced open. Sakura turns to the black archway and watches light illuminate the stairs there. People are heading down the stairs and the guards head to the stairs. The sounds of metal on metal fill the air as the memory on the screen disorientates as Nakietra's mind tears apart. She's screaming and arching up from her table while the screen disorientates and brings forward an ancient corridor. It's blue and cold looking. Nakietra can see her breath as she runs and kills all manner of frozen warriors as they rush at her in net like armor. The black guards are killed, falling into blobs of black onto the ground.

"Syaoran!" Sakura yells, reaching her hand out to him as she sees him through the guards. She sees Kurogane a moment later as he knocks a guard to the ground. He looks absolutely out of it with anger.

"Sakura!" Syaoran yells also and runs to the cage when he finds a free moment. He pulls on the bars and then finds out that the cage is locked electronically.

"Damn it. We were so close!" The man shouts at the computer and then looks back at his dwindling amount of guards. On the screen Nakietra comes to a room carved out of dark stones and carved in dozens of symbols. She focuses on the image in front of her. It's a carving that looks exactly like her with her arms outstretched and her face frozen into one of shock as fire swirls around her. The scientist presses a button the computer and a canister pops out next to him. As he takes it, the computer and everything else electronic plunges into darkness. Fai turns on a flashlight and shines it at the man. He sees that inside the canister are two of Sakura's feathers.

With a loud snap, Sakura's cage unlocks and she rushes out to Nakietra Syaoran is busy fighting to notice. Sakura sees the man with the feathers and wonders what she should do. She rushes at him. The computer man turns to a blank wall as Sakura slams into him. He retains his balance as one of his two remaining guards pulls her away and throws her to the ground.

"You aren't very useful at this moment child. You need more memories before I can do anything with you," He said and faces the walls. Kurogane sees the man and rushes to him. This fight is personal for him, this is about what happened to his mother and finding out who killed her.

A black portal opened in front of the man. Both guards dodged Kurogane's sword and then pushed him back against the table Nakietra was on. They were stronger than the already dead guards. The three disappeared through the portal before he recovered and the portal closed before he could reach it. Kurogane clenched his teeth and pounded on the solid wall.

"Nakietra?" Fai questioned softly as he unbuckled the wire hat and threw it to the ground. It smashed into pieces but no one seemed to care. Nakietra's head slumped sideways but there was no conscious response as blood poured out of every hole in her head. Sakura stared at her friend, frozen by the amount of blood visible through the help of Fai's flashlight.

Anger filled Kurogane suddenly. Not only did he miss his chance to get information about what happened to his mother, but he also missed his chance to ask about why the girls were taken and get the two feathers the man in the white lab coat had. He pounded against the metal wall again and it dented slightly. His hand pulsed with pain but he didn't care.

Nero cried loudly from his position at the top of the stairs. He barely made it to the building because of the massive amount of pain he was receiving from Nakietra. Near the end, Kurogane had to carry the wolf because he was moving too slow.

"Nakietra can you hear me?" Fai shouted. He clenched his teeth when she didn't respond again. He checked her breathing and heart rate right away then. The shout snapped Kurogane out of his trace and he reacted immediately. He turned around to face the group.

"She's alive, but she needs help," Fai stated right away as he picked her up. In the light of the flashlight Sakura now had, Kurogane could see that Nakietra's black dress was glistening with blood.


	19. The Story of Nakietra's Life

The authorities swarmed the group as they approached Emika's building. Nakietra was forced away from them and they were forced to Emika and Toya who was waiting for them near the door. She ushered them inside and into her private room on the ground floor. Neither stayed with group as they settled themselves into the chairs around the room and waited to see what was going on. They were told nothing and there was no indication that they were going to be told anything at all. Kurogane was the first one to discover that the door was locked from the outside by three bolt locks, one on top, another above the door knob, and the last near the bottom.

No one was happy. Even Sakura and Mokona had been forced here, and looked close to breaking down as they clutched at each other. Mokona looked almost out of it. His sensitivity to feeling was destroying him as he felt the combination of sadness, anger, frustration, and also a massive amount of pain from Nero. The wolf was unconscious now on his own couch in the corner.

No one asked any questions or spoke any word. Sakura was upset enough without any of them mentioning what they had seen as they entered the room. Even though they were curious, watching Sakura break down any further was worse than hearing about anything that had happened.

The sun was setting in the big window at the front of the room when Emika came back. Police of some sort were guarding the window on either side, but they were easy to ignore since none of them wanted to look out the window anyways. As Emika entered, she flipped on the overhead light. Everyone blinked from the bright light as the door was relocked.

"I have the police guarding the building, but I need to know exactly what happened," She started as stood to her place by the window. She looked back at them with a stern face, her eyes traveling to each and every one of them before stopping on Sakura.

"I need to know what YOU saw Sakura. No one else is allowed to talk but her," She asked, staring directly at Sakura with her blue eyes. They were icy in the harsh light, but her voice was calmer than when she had first entered. Sakura stared up at the woman and instantly felt fear through her veins. Emika looked away and tried to soften her gaze. It only worked somewhat. Kurogane watched this carefully. He's seen that stern look on Nakietra when she scolded Syaoran for doing something stupid.

"It…it looked like it was looking through Nakietra's memories," Sakura stuttered along. Emika nodded her head slowly, her teeth clenching. No one else said anything.

"I see…" Emika responded and looked like she was thinking, "Can you tell me what you saw? Do you know what they were looking for, or if they found it?" She asked.

Kurogane processed the request. On one hand, he wanted to know what memories Sakura had seen so he could learn more about Nakietra. On the other, he wouldn't like other people talking about his past and neither would Nakietra he knew.

Syaoran didn't have that sort of separation though. It wasn't that he didn't want to know more about her past, but he knew it wasn't right. Nakietra obviously never wanted them to know anything about her, and even now there are many things she won't even attempt to talk about with them.

Fai stared at Sakura. He didn't feel it was his place to tell her not to talk about Nakietra's memories. There were some things he's picked up on his own that he knew shouldn't be spoken of out loud. He knows she has nightmares every single time she falls asleep and he knows about her sickness. He didn't know if Sakura knew, but he knew that if she did then she wouldn't share it here.

"I…I don't think that's right," Sakura said. Emika nodded her head.

"I understand. I won't make you tell me. There are some people that prefer to keep their pasts a secret. I have no idea if your friend is one of those people, only you do so you are a better judge than me it seems," She said and looked up calmly. Kurogane saw that glint in her eyes fading. He's seen that glint in Nakietra. That was curiosity dying.

"What's wrong with Nakietra?" Kurogane asked then. Emika turned her gaze to him. She narrowed her eyes at him for interrupting her thinking. There was that look…that look that Nakietra always had with Fai that said she wanted to slap him.

"We aren't sure yet," She responded before taking a step back to address the whole group just a little more. She was done thinking at this point. "The device she was hooked up to is something we called a 'Mind Delver'. They're illegal and were supposed to all be destroyed some years ago. This one was either salvaged or homemade," She started and waited for any questions.

"What does it do?" Fai asked, leaning forward in order to catch her eyes. She stared at him.

"It was originally created to look into the minds of criminals to make sure that they commit the crime that they were going to be charged with. After a few years of use, they found that it was too dangerous to use. Many criminals and innocent died and some are still in a coma. If the memory they were looking for wasn't strong enough, the mind would break under the pressure or would be destroyed from experiencing ever glancing memory to its full effect," She explained gravelly.

"What were they looking for in her head?" Syaoran asked after a few silent moments.

"That's what I'm asking you. No one knows who these people are and that building was supposed to be renovated next month. No one should have been anywhere near it," She said. She looked to Kurogane and stared at him with interest.

"I don't think they found it," Sakura stated meekly. Everyone looked to her.

"Why?" Emika asked softly, tearing her gaze away to Sakura.

"The man kept saying he couldn't find it…" Sakura said but then faded into nothing as tears fell forward. She kept remembering how painful those memories seemed to Nakietra. Then she remembered her bloody body on the table and cried harder.

"He probably didn't then. Whatever he wanted to know wasn't a strong memory for her," Emika stated and sighed.

"How does he machine actually work?" Fai asked, trying to get her attention away from Sakura. It worked.

"I don't know that much about it, but I do know what I heard from my father. He was one of the people who created the devices. The device starts at the beginning of your life and then you twist a dial to go forward and back to backwards. Every memory you glance through, the patient sees and feels everything connected to it. How strong depends on how strong the memory is. Did he say what he was looking for?" She asked.

"No," Sakura muttered. Syaoran put a comforting arm around her and she immediately gripped his shirt and cried harder. Now she was broken, just like the group didn't want. Emika was silent as she thought.

"You never told us how she is," Kurogane asked suddenly, staring up at her. Emika stared at him for a minute before answering.

"She's asleep right now. All she has to do is wake up. If she does, then I can tell you whether or not her mind survived intact," She said and looked around at all of them. She went to the door and opened it. "I have rooms made up for you all on the top floor. Toya is with your friend in a room up there in case the men come back."

Sakura had to be carried up the stairs that night and every moment after that she needed someone with her. Every time she tried to sleep she just kept thinking of Nakietra and the memories she saw. Every time she fell asleep she imagined her friend being tortured by the scientist who was angry at not finding what he was looking for.

Nakietra was the same. Her dreams were jumbled as Nero and Kurogane watched over her. There were peaceful times yes, but most of the time she was crying or screaming words in a foreign language. She shifted and moaned sometimes and once she was kicking and scratching an imaginary enemy while tears streamed down her face. It didn't help the situation when Emika mentioned that this was how the coma patients acted on a full time basis. Her next statement canceled out the bad though.

Nakietra needed to hear someone familiar to talk to her. The voices were said to bring people back to reality and make their memories go away. It didn't always work, but it helped the situation. Sakura was told this information for a very specific reason.

After two days, Sakura sat in with Nakietra. She had no idea what to talk about, but she knew every question she wished she could ask Nakietra at that exact moment.

Kurogane was given his test for the day. Despite what Emika said before, the test had not taken the whole day. It was only a series of questions. Emika was incredible curious about Nakietra. She asked question after question about her habits and qualms. Any question Kurogane asked was immediately ignored and answered with a completely separate question. At the end of it all, Emika told Kurogane that he should never leave her side. When he asked why, she smiled and answered, "Because you are the only one who can save her where everyone else has failed."

When Kurogane returned, Toya was finally moving a mat into the room for him. The men didn't say anything to each other as Toya left and Kurogane moved in. Sakura hadn't moved from her position on the left of Nakietra and Nero was now moving onto Kurogane's bed.

Kurogane stopped behind Nakietra. Tears were pouring down her face right now. She wasn''t in distress though it seemed for once. Sakura cried also and was trying to keep it together. Kurogane didn't ask why as he moved to his bed. Nero glared at him so the man decided simply to sit down next to the wolf instead of moving him.

Sakura's tears slipper down her keeps and onto Nakietra's. Slowly the girl's consensus floated up as she heard Sakura's internal sobs. Nakietra opened her eyes slowly and watched Sakura cry. She felt pain consume her. She hated watching Sakura cry for any reason.

"Why are you crying?" Nakietra asked softly. Sakura's tear closed eyes opened and looked down.

"Nakietra!" She exclaimed and hugged the girl. Nakietra pushed herself up a little as the girl almost fell on top of her. Nakietra put an arm around the girl and felt very very confused. She didn't understand where she was. There was a mat in the corner in front of her with Kurogane sitting next to Nero. Both were watching her. Kurogane slowly smiled. She smiled back, still not understanding what was going on. Nero was specifically blocking it all from her mind right now.

"Sakura, it's okay," Nakietra said, almost like a mother comforting a crying child, before she gently pushed the girl back. Nakietra didn't like being confused and didn't like how stiff and cramped her muscles felt. Sakura sat back on her knees. Nero stumbled to his feet and brushed his head under his bond's. Nakietra hugged his head and wondered how to form the question of what was going on.

"What happened?" Nakietra asked softly, staring at Sakura. She stared back for a moment, her face moving into shock. Nakietra looked back at Kurogane and stared at him.

"What do you remember?" Kurogane asked. He was cautious, knowing that any mention of what happened might destroy her and Sakura at this moment.

**Nakietra**

I swallow hard. Nero is keeping things from me again. My mind is too weak to push against him right now. I close my eyes and try to convince Nero that I need this. I can't afford to forget any more of my memories. Nero lets a little slip and then is all spills out. I clutch my hands to my head it hurts almost.

"I was drugged, and then I don't…I don't understand," I stutter felling my eyes squeeze shut from the pain. I remember everything. I remember the whispers the blackness…my father's funeral. I see Hiro. I can't believe how young and small he looks. I see my mother crying. I curl my fingers into my hair. I don't want to cry.

I feel my heart ache. I remember my mother's funeral. My fingers dig into my head. My throat feels raw, and I see Hiro behind my closed eyes. I can't remember him looking so sad, so weakened. I breathe in heavily. I feel like I can't breathe.

"Stop," Kurogane shouts at me. He grabs my arms and pulls them away from my head. I fall forward into his chest and sob. I feel the fire against my face. I hear my own voice calling for Toya. My nose and lungs are burning from the smoke. I don't taste blood as I bite my lip. I sob as the pain in my head gets worse.

I can't think. I can't breathe.

"Nakietra!" Kurogane hushes and tries to pull me upright. I can't move. I can't breathe.

"Go find Emika," He says urgently. I hear Sakura get up and run out the door. I hear my father's booming voice and his laugh…oh his laugh is so much like Hiro's but deeper. I feel his rough hands against mine.

"You're safe here, don't worry," He says gently and lies me down against the bed. He won't let go of my hands though. I don't fight him. I hear whispers everywhere, but I don't' feel anything. My breathing is calming down. I feel safer. He curls my hands against my chest. I feel better. I like being curled up together.

"I feel…the memories. They hurt," I whisper. "They won't go away," I cry as the whispers get louder. I squeeze my eyes shut as the pain pierces through my head.

I feel Marina's hand against my face as she slaps me. I feel my mouth turn bitter as I shout at her worse than anyone else I've ever known. I feel the ground hard against my knees and taste the dust and blood in my mouth.

I gasp for breath again. I smell the blood. Benji's voice is echoing in ears. My heart beats with fear. I scream and thrash. I feel like he's gripping me again just like in my nightmares.

"Let me go! Let me go!" I scream as I try to fight him off. His hands are hurting my wrists. "Go away! Leave me alone Benji!" I scream and arch my back away from him.

"Nakietra stop it! It's me! It's Kurogane! You're safe, I have you!" Kurogane yells. I stop. Is it real? Is it really him and not Benji? I breathe out and collapse. I whimper as the pain in my head gets stronger.

Everyone entered the room but stopped as far as the doorway. Emika pushed through to the front and also stopped. She sees the girl, Nakietra, crying, whimpering as Kurogane holds her wrists in his hands. She's completely limp now.

"She's in pain," He says as he looks to her. She comes down and kneels down next to her. She looks at the girl who is her daughter in another world. It hurts her to see the girl in so much pain.

"I've heard that the mental stress from the machine causes intense pain. It's worse if they had to experience one or more bad memories," Emika says softly, her eyes trained on Nakietra. Sakura's face crumbles into sadness from her place by the doorway and she looks at the ground. Syaoran reaches out a hand to touch her, but then he stops himself. He didn't feel that was proper for him to do at this moment.

"Can you give her something for it?" Fai asks. Emika looks at Nakietra for a long time. Kurogane could see the hopeless look on her face.

"She needs to work through the memories that are bringing the pain," Emika says.

"What do we do?" Kurogane asks. Emika looks at him.

"Make her talk about them. It will help her," She says and stands up.

"Sakura, you saw the memories," Fai says gently, "you should talk to her." Sakura nods her head and went to take Emika's place. Meanwhile, the woman took Syaoran and Fai by the shoulders and forced them out.

"Nakietra?" Sakura questioned in a quiet voice. It took some time for Nakietra to register the voice and to open her eyes again. Her hair was messy and looser from her struggle with Kurogane. Kurogane slowly let go of her hands and sat back on his heels just in case she tried to hurt herself again.

"What do you want to know?" She asked her voice like a whisper as she stared up at the ceiling. The pain seemed to be gone for now.

"Was the dark skinned man Hiro your brother?" She asked like a mouse. Nakietra's eyes dulled.

**Nakietra**

"Hiro is my brother," I respond. How long has it been since I've had to tell someone that? He was always my brother. Even when we traveled, no one ever had to ask us if we were siblings and never did anyone have to ask who was older. Pain shoots through me as I remember every single memory of him. I see him as a young boy, I see him dancing during the Dead Days with Ira, I see him sitting with Toya and talking. Kurogane stops me as I reach for my arm. I dug my fingers into his hand instead. He lets me. Sakura keeps talking.

"He was always there for you," Sakura states through her tears.

"He was all I had. He taught me everything I know," I respond. My voice wavers. There were so many memories…I see him on kneel before Marina, I see him ride off into war, I feel his arms around me.

"I saw…I saw Toya," Sakura manages. Her voice is so hesitant. My breath quickens. Please, I don't want pity. I don't want tears shed for me. Kurogane's hand tightens around mine. I feel blood under my fingers. I can't stop.

"Toya was my friend…My only friend," I say, "He came from a faraway country with his family. Hiro became his friend first. Then he was mine. We were all he had." I breathe in sharply. I remember everything. I feel fire on my face just like I feel cold water against my skin. I hear his sarcastic words; I feel his soft hands on my arms when he tells me how stupid I am.

"What happened to him?" She asks, "Why was there a fire?" I close my eyes as tears push forward. I hate that memory. I don't know how to start.

"We went out to town. I don't remember why. We saw the smoke. No one knows how it started. Everyone inside was dead though. Toya lost everything. His home was gone, his father, his sister…." I say choppily. Sakura takes one of my hands. I lost Axial too. I swallow hard. I miss her so much. I'm glad I still have my drawings of her.

"Where did he go if he had no home?" She asks.

"He wouldn't stay with us. He doesn't trust people. Someone started the fire; he knows no one likes his family. They were rich; his father was a doctor only to The King. He stays in the ruins sometimes. Sometimes on the streets," I say. Toya wouldn't stay with us. He thought he was too much of a burden…it was true that there were many nights where I went to bed hungry because we hand to money.

"His sister was me…" She stutters. I turn my head to her.

"No," I dismiss right away, "It killed my Sakura. It wasn't you."

"Who is Emika to you? Why was she singing?" She asks then and looks away. I turn my head to the side. I hate that song. I wish it wasn't running through my head now. I smell the rain and I hear her voice. I remember the taste of every medicine she ever gave me and every single thing she ever told me about healing.

"Emika was my mother," I answer softly. I see her in her tan dresses and I smell her herbs. I miss her. There are so many things I wish I could say to her. There are so many questions I wished I could ask her.

"Why was she singing?" Sakura asks again.

"My father was killed in war," I answer in a broken voice. I seem him coming through the door. I hear his voice one more time saying, "If you never say goodbye, then you're never really gone." He used to say that to me whenever I said goodbye before he would ride back into battle. It was hard to stop myself from telling him goodbye.

"I'm sorry," Sakura said tearfully. I don't need pity. I miss my father too, but I can't think of anything I would say to him if he was still around. I barely knew him as the adult he was. I close my eyes and hear him say one more thing, "You're catching up to me. Soon your hands will be bigger than mine." When I was little I would line my small hands up against his big ones. Hiro had my mother's longer hands rather than my father's huge ones. I had my grandmother's impossibly tiny ones.

"It doesn't matter," I answer. Everyone dies around me. My mother would never have stayed in the palace if I hadn't been born sickly. My father wouldn't have signed up for war; my brother wouldn't have been killed by Benji…

"It does though!" Sakura insists, "You lost someone close to you…" I open my eyes.

"I've lost everything already though at this point. There's no way to get any of it back," I respond.

"You still have us," She insists. I can hear her crying. I turn my head away. I don't want to be pitied. I want to be treated normal even if it kills me. I don't want to hear her cry. I don't even want her in the room.

"Go sleep Sakura. Forget about what you saw, it doesn't affect you," I told her and struggled to turn myself on my side and hide under the covers. I hear her leave and feel Kurogane staring at me as I drift into sleep.

Nakietra slept until the next morning. Kurogane watched her all through the while, concerned she would start tearing herself apart again. She slept peacefully though for the first time since the incident. Because of it, Kurogane was able to sleep too while Sakura slept in the next room.

Morning brought better results. Nakietra was able to get up on her own and looked unaffected by her memories. Emika talked to her alone before deeming that she was fine for now. The mind was a delicate thing she said, and memories were elusive and unpredictable. She told the group to watch her and so they did as they left Emika and Toya behind and entered into a new world….

Trouble followed them more and more closely though. Attacks were prepared for them right away they landed, towns became hostile, and people all became enemies. Injuries became worse and with them, Nakietra's sanity slipped more and more. Night after night, she would only sleep a few hours at a time and only when she passed out from exhaustion. They watched as bags formed under her eyes and her face grew into a haunted glance. It was at this time that Kurogane decided to stay up with her. The things she told him….he never would have guessed most of them.

It happened in the in-between world. Everything was twisted and stretched in a way so disorientating that no one knew that direction even existed anymore. Loud noises shuddered through the world and then it cracked. Kurogane and Nakietra were too close to the hole and were sucked through. Syaoran tried to reach for them but he was too far away as they were pulled through the rip was sealed.

Mokona landed then in a rich city. It was a desert city but the buildings were richly decorated and the streets were made of beautiful stone work. In the middle was a feather stitched onto a flag of gold and blue swirls. Kurogane and Nakietra weren't as lucky as they were smashed into the sandy streets of a neighborhood with crumbling buildings and lonely streets.


	20. For the First Time, Life Makes Sense

The world they know as Mokona as they were lightly dropped onto their feet for the first time in. Syaoran and Nero were at the top, Fai and Sakura to the left and Nakietra and Kurogane to the right. They waited for danger to appear, but it didn't. They were on a gently used dirt path. Nakietra looked around just like everyone else. Behind them was a thin forest and in front of them was a very modern looking city. Nakietra's eyes locked on a tanned man standing at the edge of the city. From here she could see his coal eyes and dark hair that was styled in a way she had known since she knew how to hold a pen.

Mokona bounced onto Nakietra's head but even that wasn't enough to shake her out of it. Her eyes were fixed on the man who was now jogging to them. As he got closer, her mind froze up more and more. She pulled her hood down and watched the sun shine off his black hair. She could never get that part right when she drew him. He stopped in front of them and surveyed their group.

"Toya?" She questioned softly and took a few steps forward. Syaoran ran back to Sakura and stopped her from calling out his name. They learned that calling out names can bring them so much trouble if they weren't careful. Nakietra knew that better than anyone else.

"You're Nakietra?" He asked. She took a step back in surprise. This wasn't her world and yet this Toya knows her name.

"Yes, and you're Toya," She responded, resuming her strong stance warily. Something wasn't right here she felt.

"My landlady said you would be here. You and your group are to come with me to see her," He said like it was an enormous chore.

"Who's your landlady?" Nakietra asked carefully. Nero himself looked confused as he moved around and examined Toya from every angle. Nero never understood the concept of encountering the same exact people but with them having different memories and different worlds. He sniffed Toya and found that the scent was a little different from his Toya that he knew.

"Emika Ah'Kon," He said and turned to leave. Nakietra froze and so did her group. No one moved because she didn't more. Her eyes were blank as she stared out into space.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Kurogane asked strongly. Toya sighed and turned around.

"She said to tell you 'I have what you seek and will give it to you when you prove…you…deserve it'," Toya said stumbling over the last part. His eye brows furrowed as he seemed to whisper the phrase out loud to make sure it was right. "That's right," He said and focused full on the group. Nakietra was out of it and didn't respond. Kurogane walked up next to her and saw that her mind wasn't completely there right now.

"It has to be the feather," Syaoran hushed with triumph from behind. Kurogane heisted and then nodded his head okay. This was still fishy but he would let it go until he could talk to Nakietra about what's going on.

"We'll trust you for now," He said. Toya turned around and started leading the way once more while the group followed. Nero had to push Nakietra's knees to get her moving and even then it was slowly. Eventually, she put a hand to her head and rubbed her eyes like she was regaining consciousness.

"Are you okay?" He asked softly. Nakietra looked up at him. Her eyes were still half out of it.

"Yeah…I just…I don't know," She stumbled along.

"Did you know this Emia?" He asked.

"Emika, Emika Ah'Kon" She corrected, pronouncing each syllable individually as Em-e-a. "It's my mother's name," She said very softly and gripped her shoulders. She was in pain he could tell. He paused.

"What happened to your mother?" He asked softly. She looked down.

"Not now," She said simply, her voice wavering. Stealthily, he cloaked his hand and took her own. She squeezed it tightly but didn't look up. They didn't speak again.

Toya stopped in front of the tallest brick building in the city. It was near the center of the city and was surrounded by children. In the windows on all five floors, there were children dancing around or playing games and in the spacious green backyard was even more children. Over the front glass door was a sign that read, "Kon Orphanage". Toya went inside and everyone followed. In a room to the left of what looked like a reception area was an area filled with children three and younger with older children taking care of them. Toya glanced over but then his head snapped the other direction when they all heard a voice.

"Toya," A sweet voiced woman called from a room to the right. It came from behind a rose carved oak door that was closed. Toya went to the door and opened it without knocking. He went to the side and held the door open for everyone to come in before shutting it.

Standing before them, in the light of an open window, was a beautifully thin black woman. She was short and had light blue eyes that examined each of them as they entered. Her hair was braided and hung over her right shoulder as she stood in a very familiar proud stance. Her white dress was tight and reached all the way to the floor. Her feet were bare and she kept her hands on her hips.

"I brought them Emika," Toya said with respect as he walked into her sight. The woman frowned at him and only him.

"Toya, I told you to call me Mother. Now go gather the children from the street. It's too dangerous for them out there," She gently waved off. Toya sighed but left without complaint.

"Please, sit," She said to the group as the door shut. She smiled as she watched the chairs each of them picked. Fai sat down first, taking a plain light wooden one in front of the door; Syaoran and Sakura took a blue, impossibly huge, hard backed chair that probably could have fit one more person; Nakietra curled up her legs on a rocking chair with Nero safely sitting on the floor close by, and Kurogane took a high back chair nearby her. There was silence as the woman examined them. Nakietra pulled up her hood as the memories of her mother started to eat her alive.

"Mrs. Emika-" Syaoran started but she cut him off.

"Emika. I'm not that old," She corrected, "and I know what you're going to ask." She reached into the folds of her dress and pulled out a perfect pink feather.

"The feather!" He exclaimed and jumped up. Emika returned it to her dress right away as she glared at the boy. Syaoran froze.

"I need to know that you are the right ones. This feather gives me the power to see certain things, and I want to make sure it will be used for good before I just give it away for nothing," She stated. The group was silent and she looked around to all of them. Syaoran took his seat again, watching the woman very carefully and feeling very much like a little boy. Almost like when Nakietra scolds him.

"I'll test you in my own way, one at a time," She said and looked to Syaoran, "I'll start with you since you're so eager. This takes a full day, and until I'm finished, I have other things for the rest of you to do," She looked to Nakietra, "I would like you to go to the fields near where you landed, and pick some flowers," She looked to Sakura, "And I want you to go shopping. One of you men will accompany each girl," She said and waved them away. The group looked around a second before Nakietra got up and started leaving. Everyone started following her, except for Syaoran.

**Nakietra**

My head was spinning with memories. I saw my mother giving orders to people in medical emergencies just as she had now. I keep smelling the herbs she used to dry in our house and keep hearing her voice. It's always sweet but direct. She never danced around anything. She never lied as far as I know. I hate these memories. I wish I was strong enough to not need this stupid knife.

I go outside and take three big breathes. My throat closes as I see Toya with Six children clinging to him. He stops and looks me over before heading inside.

"Wait here," He says tiredly and brushes past me. I move out of the way as more children follow behind him. Toya never did like little kids as much. Soon, Toya is back, holding some things as my group comes out. He talks to Sakura firs and hands her a deep basket and a piece of paper. Fai looks over her shoulder at the list and Nero hugs her side. He sent me singles that he wants to go with Sakura since she and Fai weren't good fighter. Something's wrong here he feels. I don't know whether to agree with him or not.

"Emika like all kinds of flower, but she doesn't like them wilting. She think you know what to do, so here," Toya says and hands me a square basket that wasn't as deep as Sakura's. "The field is just up the street. It's a straight shot, can't miss it," He finishes and leaves to gather more stray children. I watch him leave and clutch the basket. I miss Toya.

"Are you coming?" I ask Kurogane as I start to walk away. He watches Sakura start the other way before following next to me. I clutch the basket and stare at the ground.

"Someone has to keep you out of trouble," He says with a small smile.

"I don't get in trouble," I ask and smile slightly

"You always do," He responds.

"You make it sound like I look for trouble. It's not my fault trouble likes to snap at me," I tell him. I remember when Hiro came back from battles injured and when we were traveling and we just barely lived through something extremely dangerous.

"Sure," He says, his smile growing bigger. I stare at that smile. I like it. He doesn't seem so…strict or destructive with it. In battle it makes him look sinister though.

"I wouldn't lie to you," I say with my own smile getting bigger. The memories are starting to fade.

"I couldn't tell if you did," He admits as we dodged people on the side walk. My smile falls a little. I never liked lying, but it was always necessary. It's still necessary in order for me to stay sane.

"Race?" I question as we move around an old couple taking a stroll. He looks sideways at me before taking off. "Hey!" I yell and bolted to catch up. He's easily beating me with his longer legs and healthier body, but I have something he doesn't. I activate two Speed ruins on my legs and I blast past him. I reach the trees and look back as he's still running. I take a seat in the shade and lie down. The sky is beautiful today

"You cheated," He jokingly accuses when he catches up. I turned my head and look up at him with a smile.

"YOU were the one that cheated. I just used my available resources to win," I respond with a smirk on my face. He shakes his head and offers me a hand. I take it. He doesn't let it go through once I'm up. Instead, he leads me into the forest. I curl my hand around his. I hate not being able to touch people.

"There are some flowers," He states right away. He point to a clump of Blue-Eyed Maries. I guide him to it, letting the basket hang from my other arm. As we get closer, I let go of his hand and replace it with the basket. Ever so carefully, I break a few flowers away from the clump. I looked around for more and find some Dutchman's Breeches to accompany them.

"Is there anything in the basket?" I ask as I slowly walk over to the white flowers. I break a bunch away and slowly built a bouquet around my Blue-Eyed Maries. I hear him open it and then hear the chink of some glass.

"There ix a glass jar with sheets of tissue in it, some string, and a pocket knife," He names off.

"Can you cut some twine, please?" I ask and turn back to him. He has the basket on the ground and is kneeling down on one knee next to it. I kneel down on both knees and even out the flowers with my fingernails. He cuts the twine and holds it out to me. I take it and start tying the flowers together.

"That's nice," He compliments and I feel him watch me.

"Why don't you go find some other flowers?" I ask while I tried to focus on my one task. He hesitates but then says okay and leaves. I tie a simple knot around the flowers and then wrapped one of the tissues around base of the flowers to keep them fresh. I incorporated the extra tissue into a Boa knot then, letting my hands go on auto-pilot. The work was calming.

I remembered doing this for my mother so many times; both with herbs for healing, and flowers for the Queen's bedroom, who she attended to daily. The sickly sweet smell of the thin paper makes my stomach churn as usual, but it's familiar. While I wait for Kurogane to return, I inspected the basket. There are three removable boards. I have no doubts that my "mother" will want it packed with flowers.

It didn't take me long to make enough bouquets to fill the basket. Kurogane found several clearings abundant with flowers and brought them back by the arm loads. By the time we were done, only a few hours had probably passed at the most. I look back at the city and dread going back. I don't like modern cities, and I don't want to see the two people I know from my world.

Kurogane picks up the basket and I look up. He takes my hand and leads me away, deeper into the trees. He brings me to an untouched clearing that's both shady and sunny. I lie down in the grass and stare up at the available sky. Kurogane lies down next to me. I feel him playing with my hand. I start tapping a rhythm with my fingers. He seems to enjoy that. I look over to him and smile.

"Why are you playing with my fingers?" I asked.

"You have very small hands," He says. I give a small laugh.

"Tell me about your mother," He asks gently then. I stare up at the sky.

"My mother was a healer. She married into it through my father. Our village is only allowed to have one healer at a time because of the amount of work in the fields and it was my grandmamma for a long time. MY father and uncle had no talent for it, so she took on my mother. My mother was…she learned very fast…The queen of our village was always really sick. Since my mother was a healer, she was called in to take care of her. That was long before I was born. My mother took care of the townspeople too, but she only worked at night when everyone was supposed to be home. One night, she didn't come back. The next day, a friend of my father's told me that she and the Queen had been killed that night with a common dagger," I say. My mind was too numb from the earlier memories for me to cry or feel any pain.

"Did they ever find who did it?" He asks softly, gripping my hand tightly. Maybe I was the one gripping his hand.

"The armory in the castle wasn't locked or guarded that night because everyone had been deployed to fight a new battle on the border. Everyone was a suspect, but no one was ever accused. There were too many people," I say slowly. The funeral was running through my head now. I was trying not to remember it. I remember singing for her.

"_**On the other side of time, there is a city of wind**_

_**Come on, Take me with you**_

_**Make the white flower's dream come true**_

_**Take my hand with your sweet fingers**_

_**Come on, I want to be guided down the long road to your side**_

_**An unending song in the early afternoon**_

_**The two awaken and become one**_

_**Knowing the meaning of happiness for the first time**_

_**Take me with you**_

_**An unending say in the early afternoon**_

_**The two awaken and become one**_

_**Knowing the meaning of happiness for the first time**_

_**Take me with you**_

_**The other side of unseen dreams**_

_**Come. On the two of us can take that long road**_

_**To the city of wind"**_

_I remember singing as the sky poured. It was freezing that day, but everyone showed up. The burning was held outside of town instead of in the graveyard because there were so many people. I was crying and soaking yet and my voice was breaking every other line. There was no way I could stop singing though because that would have been an insult to my mother's memory. Hiro was near the back of the crowd. His horse was near death and he only arrived near the very end. The King had allowed him to come back from battle just for the funeral._

_The song ended and I couldn't help but look to the sky as the fire was lit over my mother's body in the shallow pit someone else dug. An oiled cloth had been spread out above it to keep the rain off, but still the fire sputtered and spitted as scattered droplets flew in with the bitter wind. Wind was always a good sign at funerals. _

_My eyes closed as the rain burned my eyes worse than my tears. Hiro came up to the front and lead me before I could collapse away before I could collapse. It was too much for me at the time. I hadn't taken my medicine, I was grieving, and the smell was awful. I watched my father burn from the back of the crowd, but I barely smelled the stench of burning flesh. _

A rough finger wiped the tears away. "How old were you?" He asks.

"Ten," I answer simply and swallowed hard.

"I was about ten when my mother died," I hear him say quietly. I roll over in the grass to face him before opening my eyes. He looks. He puts a hand in back of my head and presses our foreheads together. I let out a shaky breath but I feel better.

"What was she like?" I ask. I picture a warrior woman with short black hair and tanned skin like his. Strong, proud, but acted like a mother when she needed to be. I picture her like my mother.

"She was a priestess. Our town relied on her to keep demons away with the barrier and it made her very weak. She could barely walk some days, and I wasn't allowed to see her most days. Everyone thought I had too much energy to be around her," He said silently, pausing before each sentence.

"Both our mothers were at the center of trouble," I note and smile through my tears. In families, mothers always seem to be the strong ones. Toya's mom (I remember from what he told me) died defending him when a rogue group of soldiers invaded their homeland. After that, him, his father, and baby sister came to stay with our King as his personal doctor.

"Hm," he mutters. "You mentioned once that your father was gone also," He states. I close my eyes.

"He died when I was eight. In war. He was gone a lot so I don't remember him much. He always smelled like smoke though, and his hands were three times the size of mine," I say softly, trying to draw up a picture of him in my mind. I can't. I always need the few sketches of him in my book, faded as they were, to remember him. I see Hiro though, riding on a horse behind father, both coming back from the war when I was young.

"Did you have any other family after…your parents' deaths?" He asks gently.

"I had Hiro," I respond, gripping his hand to stop more tears from coming. Hiro was still too much, and thinking of my cousins was also a lot. I was never allowed to see them again after their mother banned me from the house.

"Did you two stay in the palace after that? He questions.

"Yes…we didn't have anywhere else to go. My uncle and his wife hate me," I stumble along, feeling my face curl into frown. I take a few shaky breaths and clutch his hand. Another painful memory that won't stop haunting me; Axial.

"Why?" he asks.

"I killed their youngest daughter," I say. I squeezed my eyes as images of the fire filter into my mind. I felt the hand rest on my shoulder.

"I doubt you did. It was a situation that you probably couldn't control," He says calmly, pulling me into him.

"It was, and yet I am blamed," I respond softly. Neither of us could have known the house was going to get torched when we left.

We lay there in silence. My tears dried on my face and my mind faded into a state between sleep and being awake. There were no more memories. Kurogane's body tensed then and he tapped my back twice with his fingers. My eyes shot open and I felt him pull back his hands slowly. Something's wrong here. I put my hand on my knife.

I focus my ears; footsteps. They're careful, but you can still hear their feet moving through the grass as well as half crunches made from them stepping on tree roots/branches. There're multiple people. We lock eyes. He rests his hand on his sword and I eased my knife out of its sheaf on my hip. I have it all the way out and that's when they strike.

I jump to my feet, only a second behind Kurogane, but it cost me. An object smashed into the side of my head. I stagger and lost my knife. I feel a bag go over my head. I reach up but someone grabs my wrists and ties them tight with rope. I stagger into someone's arms. I'm dizzy but I try to work around it. They lift me up and try to tie my feet. I jerk my foot up and contact with someone's nose I know as they scream and shout.

I keep moving in their arms, not letting them get a good grip on me. I can't hear Kurogane fighting at all and it's bothering me. Someone grabs my head and jerks it to the side. I feel a shot and then liquid fire is blasted through my veins. My vision turns black and I know they have me.

Kurogane was left unconscious in the clearing while the men clothed in black picked up their limp bundle and headed into town. Nakietra's golden knife glinted in the sun as it lay perfectly untouched in the grass. An hour passed before Kurogane regained consciousness, but it was too late by that time. The group had already struck again.

In another part of the city, Fai and Sakura are assaulted by the exact same men. Fai is knocked out right away while Sakura is grabbed and taken away with the same drug coursing through her veins as Nakietra. Nero is able to bite and claw a few of them, but they are able to tie him to a post and leave him. By the time the men had regained consciousness and made it back to Emika, the trails was cold, Emika gathered the group in her special room along with Toya and some other older children.

"Do you know who did this?" Kurogane was the first to ask after everyone was settled. He touched the side of his head which was already turning purple. The woman's blue eyes looked down on him. She could see the suspicion coursing in his mind.

"No, I've never heard of a group in black kidnapping young women. Be quiet now and listen," She commanded. Kurogane didn't look happy at all, but he shut up. "Toya, you and the others look for clues at the scenes and report back when you find the smallest thing that you believe will help." The older boy nodded his head and the group silently left, letting the door click closed behind them. Emika watched them go before looking around at who was left, her gaze finally resting on Nero. "You have a powerful asset here, and yet you overlook him and turned directly to me it seems," She said and looked back at all of them. Suddenly, the group understood what she was saying.

"Nero, can you take us to Nakietra?" Syaoran asked, kneeling down next to the wolf. He patted the ground once with his paw; a single for yes.

"Why didn't he go on his own though?" Fai asked absently. His knockout was caused by a jolt of electricity running through his body. He still felt sluggish and his mind wasn't completely functional because of it.

"There's too many of them for him to take on his own," Kurogane responded understandably as he stared down at the wolf. Nero cried once and jumped to his feet. He wanted to go.

"I don't have fighters here, but I can try to get some authorities to find and follow you. There's no time to waste waiting for them to come here, so go now," Emika said and hurried out of the room, the door slamming against the opposite wall. With no further encouragement, the group headed outside where Nero hurriedly began to follow the trail.


	21. Everything Changes Now

Everything is peaceful as the group is carefully dropped onto the grass. The trees are plentiful, but grow comfortable apart. Tree stumps dot the area and show that someone must live in the area. Clearings are small but many and all are mostly shaded just like the one the group has dropped into.

There is a lazy wind brushing through the leaves and carrying the songs of the birds over from the trees farther away. Everything stops as the group comes in. A boy in a tree near them freezes and watches the people. He is wearing dark green clothes and has a sack slung over his shoulder which is filled with shiny green apples.

Fai jumps to his feet and moves to Nakietra. He knows about the other two for now, but he knows she might be even worse. He rolls her onto her side and listens to her breath. Sakura is getting up now and is looking over Syaoran one more time. Fai's faces creases in worry. Nakietra's breathing is bad and the blood steadily running out of her mouth every time she breathes is not a good sign. He looks over to Kurogane and Syaoran. Both are out cold from the pain of their injuries. They don't know anything about this world and all he has is Sakura to help him take care of everyone and Nero to protect them. The situation is very grim.

The boy watches the scene for a little bit. Three people aren't moving out of five. There is a wolf but he is domesticated the boy can see by the way he moves in-between all the people and sniffs them. He decides to help them.

"Do you need help?" He calls and climbs down the tree. Fai looks to the boy but can't smile for once.

"Yes," The man answers slowly. He suspicious considering they have been attacks in many worlds. Nero moves and stands by Kurogane, his dangerous eyes trained on the boy. Sakura has Syaoran clutched in her arms while Fai has Nakietra.

"My aunt is a healer. She doesn't ask for payment…I wouldn't say no. That girl's really sick and she'll die, very painfully," The boy babbled nervously as his eyes dart between Fai, Nero, and Nakietra.

"We would like that," Fai says, managing a tight smile. He has no choice. He barely knows how to help Nakietra. He knows she's sick and has respected the fact that she handles it on her own, but it doesn't help in situations like these. He moves to pick up Nakietra but then stops himself. Nero won't be able to carry Kurogane on his back. He could barely carry Syaoran without the boy almost sliding off every few minutes. The boy took a few hesitant steps forward.

"I can take her," He offers. Fai looks at him for a minute and then nods his head. He moves over to Kurogane and manages to get the man over his shoulder. Nero ignored the boy and went to Sakura to carry Syaoran once more. The boy watched them and then easily picked up Nakietra. He wouldn't have been more than fourteen years old. He lead the way and the others followed. Sakura rested her fingers on Nero's head like she's seen Nakietra do many times over before. It was comforting somewhat.

The boy has black hair that has been braided and twisted into a bun on the top of his head. His features were still young, but he was obviously a boy by the way his face was angled and pointed. His bag of apples was lumpy and filled just like his aunt wanted, and so his silver eyes were very calm as he took the familiar path home. His frame was incredibly skinny, but still he looks like he can carry Nakietra with ease as he continues to walk.

The house he brings them to is made of dark wood ad it two stories. The windows around the room show every room in the house and none have curtains. There are rooms packed with straw beds on the ground as well as rooms with herbs drying from the ceiling as well as normal rooms like a kitchen and sitting area. In the front of the house was a small fence off area with a neatly kept garden of herbs and vegetables. A woman, whose skin was equally as tan as the boy's, was kneeling in the dirt when the boy approached the gate.

The woman stood up and everyone could see she was just as rail thin. Her features were sharp and strong like the boy's and her hair was tied up just like his. She wore tight men's clothes, but it made her look very strong as she exited her garden and glanced at each newcomer one by one. Then, without a word, she opened the front and entered.

"Zuo, bring them in. Put the injured on the beds," the woman commands in a hardy voice as she turns immediately right in the hall. The boy, Zuo went inside and beckoned for them to follow him. They passed what looked like a kitchen where the woman was putting a pot over the fire filled with water.

"Take them a door down," Zuo told them as he pushed open the nearest door on the left which was slightly across from the kitchen. Fai nodded his head, not even bothering to question it right now, and moved on with Nero and Sakura behind him. The room was plain with three straw boxes on the ground, covered with sheets and blankets. The room had two box windows that just barely shinned on the corners of each bed. Fai set Kurogane on one of the beds and found the straw was actually quiet soft. Nakietra's room was similar but hers only had one and was smaller. Zuo laid her on her side and slipped her shoes off before leaving. His aunt was in a moment later to examine her.

She barely looked at Nakietra. It wasn't necessary for her. She knew exactly what was wrong the moment she saw the girl, but she needed to be sure. She was sure now as she walked out to check on the other two. She's traveled worlds looking for a cure to Blood Lung, what she knew the genetic condition as. There wasn't one and she learned that in the hardest ways possible.

The boys were unconscious still when she walked in. Sakura shifted back away from Syaoran when she saw the woman and dug her fingers into Nero's deep coat to stop herself from asking anything. Mokona was unconscious again in her arms. Every other world it seemed he was unconscious after landing. She's asked him time and time again but he always says he can't tell her. Fai told her to leave the talking to him even though it was difficult for her. Fai stood back by one of the windows and carefully watched what the woman was doing. Zuo was waiting by the door.

"His lower ribs are cracked and there is a lump on his head. There're no open injures," She said and moved away from Syaoran. Zuo rushed out of the room to get the correct supplies needed to fix him first. The woman checked over Kurogane then.

Zuo came back fairly quick and slowly started treating Syaoran's wounds with the utmost care. First, his dirty shirt and gloves were taken away along with the googles around his neck. Sakura watched the boy's hands as he wrapped Syaoran's torso. His hands were so little, probably the size of Nakietra's if not just a little bigger. Zuo tied a damp square of cloth to Syaoran's head and then sat back, waiting for more orders. The woman finished just a minute later. She rose and didn't say anything. Zuo rose with her.

"I am Xion and this is my nephew Zuo. I am a healer and he is an apprentice," She said the words sounding carefully thought out and not fluid at all with her rough accent. It was different from Nakietra's accent which sounded just sounded deeper but still fluid.

"I'm Fai and this young lady is Sakura and the wolf is Nero," Fai said with a weak smile. He was relieved to know that someone was at least helping his friends a little bit. For now at least.

"Do not force yourself to smile. Things are grey; I know, so do not try to lie to yourself and try to tell me they are fine. Half of you are tired, and the other half are unconscious," She said in a scolding tone. Fai was taken aback and shocked for a minute. She looked back to her nephew.

"The man's left leg and right shoulder are shattered. Use wet with dry on top, and pain medicine for both," she told him slowly. The boy nodded his head and left.

"These two aren't in danger of dying. Follow me," She said, putting great emphasis on "these two" before moving out of the room. The three followed her out and into the kitchen because they knew they had to

"Sit," She commanded and gestured to the table in the middle of the kitchen. There were four plain chairs around it but all of it was sturdy hand carved furniture. The group sat, Fai facing the doorway and Sakura facing the Xion. Nero stayed by himself in a corner close to the door that leads to the hallway. He closed his eyes and attempted to nap. He had helped Syaoran steal the feather in the other world which had taken most of the night and then they used the rest to go after Kurogane and Nakietra while the guards were distracted with the robbery.

Xion moved about the kitchen with ease as she got out both food and herbs. Both people watched her carefully, Fai understanding a little bit what she was doing by the smells and sights of the herbs.

"You didn't tell us about how our other friend is," Fai said tiredly after a while. Sakura stared at the table. She was exhausted from being up all night before.

"She will live," Xion said. Fai didn't push it when she didn't explain anything else. The last doctor had said that she probably didn't want anyone to know about her illness. Even though it might cause them problems in the future, Fai didn't think it was his place to come and reveal Nakietra's secret to Sakura. He would have to ask later

Steaming slices of what looked like a meat pie were eventually placed in front of the three. Nero opened his eyes enough to readjust himself and slowly started to eat the food. His was made with rarer meat unlike the other two. He loved it. The other two didn't eat very much as they watched Zuo come in twice and didn't say anything. The first time he took two cold cups away and the next he took one steaming one. Fai caught the scent of it and recognized it as Nakietra's medicine.

"Eat," She commanded and took a seat across form Sakura with her own plate. Fai managed to eat more of his pie, but Sakura ate very little. She was more worried and tied than Fai, who understood what was going on. Xion waited for the two to finish before she spoke again.

"Do you know about the girl and what she takes," She asked Fai. He paused and then nodded his head. He knew some that is.

"I do," He responded vocally.

"I will discuss this later with you then. The day grows old now and the night will be hard. You both need sleep," She said and rose. She collected the empty plates and then took them to the sink, turning on the water and then cleaning them. Fai watched her for a moment before getting up, bringing Sakura with him as she finished. She walked out the door and gestured for them to follow her. She showed them upstairs and gave them a room with three straw beds. Sakura took one and set Mokona on the other where Nero was curling up on his own. She told them to come downstairs if they needed anything. She left them to fall asleep while she and Zuo kept Nakietra from death.

Morning came much too late for Zuo and Xion's opinions. Their faces were shadowed and tired from the long night of working. As Sakura and Fai came downstairs, they were happy to get away from work. Xion knew it would be difficult to keep the girl alive, but not that difficult. Her herb supplies were low now, and for what? To give this girl a few more weeks? She sees that this girl is reckless. She doesn't understand why she even saved the girl.

Xion made breakfast though. Sakura and Fai were sent out to find herbs then while Zuo slept and she made her rounds with the boys. It was past midday when they came back. Xion handed the herbs to her nephew to dry while she called Fai into Nakietra's room. Sakura was seated at the table in the kitchen and left to look very scared and alone.

Fai's eyes locked onto his friend. His face paled and he needed to grab the wall for support. Her skin was tinted grey and her face tense with pain. He looked down and could see that her clothes were gone and her skin was bruised over her heart. Someone had given her CPR. He breathed out. Her hair was loose and tangled across the pillows. Her body was wet with seat and he could see the covers around her were damp. Every one of her ribs were visible to him from underneath the covers and her

"I need you to tell me what you know so that I can tell you what I know," She said and pressed herself back against the door. Fai looked over to her as she stood in front of the door. Fai pulled his gaze away and looked to her.

"She's sick," He answered quietly. Xion examined him with her silver eyes.

"Are you the only one that knows this in your group?" She asked.

"I think so," He answered. She stared at him.

"Your mind is shocked by her appearance. I will tell you what it is wrong," She started, "It's genetic, what she has. It runs through worlds, not families. It is random. We call people like her, the ones that survive, The Black Babes because they are marked with death. There is no cure. Few are lucky to live through their first year," She took a deep breath and paused.

"Every year is a blessing. The babies are born with tiny holes in their lungs. It is a defect. When they exhaust their lungs or their bodies, their minds stop focusing on keeping the holes in their lungs closed. Blood pours in. The blood burns their lungs, making them feel like fire. It slowly drowns them, the body starts to shut down, and then they die. This is without treatment. The treatment stops working after a time though," She said. Fai slid down to the ground. He never imagined it was anything like this.

"We call it Red Lung," She finished. He nodded his head. He's heard of it. People in his own homeland died of it all the time and came to Asura for help. He could never help them.

"Your friend wanted to live, that is why she has lived so long. She fought to stay alive. I have never found another so strong," Xion went on and then ended with a stone face. "I searched for a cure for twenty years through thousands of worlds," She mentioned. He looked up at her.

"Who's the oldest person who's had this?" He asked softly.

"Besides her, the oldest I have seen was a ten year old boy who died in his mother's arms the day after he came to me," She responded, "I didn't think a child could live that long, but now…this girl has done the impossible. The boy was much worse than her when he came to me" Fai felt shocked inside, "She has no strong reason to live." He turned to her.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"She must have been treated the day she was born in order to live this long. She must have taken her medicine every day since then. She would have lived longer if she had not stopped. She hasn't been taking it as much recently. Her reason to live is gone I think," She stated with almost sadness in her voice.

"How recently?" He asked softly. He always thought of Nakietra as someone who thought she was higher than the rest of them with all her abilities. Even after she showed them her face, he still thought there was something separating her from them. She loved life, and she wanted them to enjoy it…maybe she didn't enjoy it though. Maybe…she was looking for a reason to live by traveling.

"I can only guess, but from her marks, I will say a year ago at the least. The pattern is constant enough for me to be accurate," She responded. Fai nodded his head slowly, not even thinking of asking her how she could tell. That was about when she joined their group. He's been keeping track of the days and it has been about a year if not more. There were days he forgot to write down.

He remembered the man then. He saw how he was searching for Nakietra. He remembered how bad she was shaking and how she flinched at every word he said. He turned to Xion and got to his feet. This had something to do with her past.

"How is she now?" He asked.

"I gave her some more powerful medicine than she was taking before. She'll sleep for a few more hours while her body recovers, but even then her body will be painful after brushing so close to death. Your friends will awake sooner than her. You should be there I think. I can't have either of them moving now," Xion said and unlocked the door. Zou's voice could be heard distantly as he talked to someone in the hall. Fai couldn't understand the words, but Xion understood perfectly.

"One of them is already up," She said. Fai looked toward the door, wanting to go see who it was. Xion pushed the door open all the way and lead the way out to the boys' room. Kurogane was sitting up with a steaming cup in his good hand while Zou showed Sakura how to trickle the drink into Syaoran's mouth without drowning him. She looked focused and very determined.

Kurogane looked up and watched Xion as she moved well into the room until she was by the single window across from the door. His shoulder is wrapped in bandages to the point where he couldn't move it. He didn't want to move it though because it was so painful. He was suspicious of her. Fai gracefully took a seat between the two beds with a slightly better smile than the day before.

"Where are we?" Kurogane asked Fai as his attention turned to him.

"We're in a new world. This," He gestured to Xion, "is Xion. She's a healer, and this," he gestured to Zuo, "is her nephew Zuo. They're letting us stay here while we recover." Kurogane nodded his head as he examined the two new people.

"Zuo, come. I will show you a new lesson today," Xion said suddenly after looking out the window for a little bit and was out the door in a few strides. The boy was up in a few seconds and followed her out, waving to Sakura to continue as he closed the door behind him. Kurogane watched them leave with cautious eyes before looking at Fai again. He finished his drink and set the empty cup on the ground. He already did not like the lady.

"What happened?" He asked seriously and looked down as pain rippled through his shoulder as he moved it just a fraction of an inch. Fai mulled over the question, not noticing the pain.

"Before or after you lost consciousness?" He asked, carefully choosing his words.

"After," Kurogane responded annoyed.

"We left that world, and we came to this one. Zou saw us from a tree and then helped us bring everyone here," Fai responded seriously.

"How did we leave the world without bring that big guy with us?" Kurogane asked. His patience already thinned to the breaking point because of the pain now in his leg as he shifted it. He wanted to lie down again but that wasn't possible. He needed to know where Nakietra was too. She, Nero, and Mokona were all missing from the room. He hoped they weren't out searching for the feather on their own. Fai got more serious as he saw that Kurogane was actually in pain now.

"Right after you and Syaoran confronted the guy, me and Sakura followed Nero to Nakietra. When we got there, Syaoran was sailing through the trees and she sent us to find him. After we found him, Nero pulled us back to the road where you were unconscious. Nakietra and the guy were nowhere to be found. Mokona started a portal to take us to the next world and Nakietra jumped into it from the trees. That's when we left," Fai said.

He wondered where Nero and Mokona were all day. Xion said they were nearby and he knew Nero wouldn't stray far since Nakietra was hurt. Still, he hoped they weren't getting in trouble somewhere. No world has been safe for them recently.

Kurogane slowly nodded his head. "Where's Nakietra?" He asked softly. Fai turned his gaze to the window. The sun was fully visible but it was inching down as time passed. There were bright yellow birds in the trees.

"She's unconscious," Fai responded, not really knowing what else to say. He wasn't about to revel her secret, but he also didn't want to say she was sick or injured.

"She got hurt?" He asked his voice softer. Fai focused back on his. Kurogane was rarely worried like this.

"You have to ask Xion," Fai responded, "I didn't understand anything she told me." Kurogane started at him with a suspicious look, but then abandoned it. The door opened again and Xion stepped silently through. Zuo wasn't with her this time as she picked a spot in front of all three of them to stand.

"Do any of you need anything?" She asked roughly.

"What's wrong with our friend Nakietra?" Kurogane asked right away. Xion stared at him as she mulled about the decision. In the end, she decided to tell them, adding in the information from the questions Fai asked earlier. Usually she wouldn't do this, but she was not going to let this girl continue to kill herself after she spent everything she had to keep her alive. She thought it might help her to know someone cared.

In the other room, Zuo carefully kneeled down on the floor next to Nakietra. Her eyes were finally open for the first time in days, but she was still in pain and her breathing was labored. The boy dragged over a pillow from the other bed, arranged it on the wooden paneling, and raised the girl's head onto it. Slowly he tickled the medicine down her throat. Her eyes closed and her face relaxed when the cup was half empty. Already, the medicine was taking it soothing effect. When he was done, her head was replaced in its original position and Zuo silently left. Hopefully, she would be able to talk tomorrow, but now she needed sleep just like the rest of them.

As Zou was leaving, he looked back at her peaceful body. Why was she so scared? He could see it in her eyes as she was staring at him. He wasn't scary. He was a boy…one she didn't know though. He rationalized the fear this way and didn't dwell on it after that.

"You didn't know who I was though, so you are here for something else," Xion said after the questions had ceased and Nakietra's condition full explained.

"We're looking for a pink feather. It's very unique," Fai answered. Xion pursed her lips.

"Why?" She asked.

"It belongs to Sakura," Fai said and gestured to the girl behind him. Xion took a step forward and bent over to look into her eyes.

"Does it really? Many have come, but all have failed my test. _I _know who it should belong to. I don't know if you lie though," She said and stared at Sakura more. "I will test you, come," She said and left the room. Sakura, completely stunned, slowly got up and followed.

Another day passed. Sakura did her series of tasks and was given the feather, away from the other's prying eyes. Kurogane's leg healed to a point where he could walk a little and his shoulder didn't need to be kept in bandages. Whatever Xion was giving them both was maximizing their healing process. Even Syaoran was able to sit up on his own though it was still really painful.

Nakietra was able to sit up as well as talk. Xion knew she was not at all better though. The girl did nothing but stare out the window, cry, and sleep. Zuo sat with her sometimes, but he never asked her why. He only made sure she was comfortable.

"Can you bring my group here?" She asked suddenly after two days passed. The boy's eyes focused on her and he silently nodded his head. This is what Xion had been waiting for. He wished he knew why though.


	22. Revelation Forms a Stronger Bond

**Nakietra**

I keep hearing His voice. Sometimes it sounds like his voice when he was a kid, other's it His real voice, the one that haunts my nightmares. I can barely sleep with them, not that I could tell when I was awake and when I wasn't. Zuo doesn't give me the sleeping medicine anymore because I asked him not to. He also gave me a shirt of his to wear. It was green and fit me better than any shirt anyone's ever loaned me. I sat up in my bed and waited.

I can't keep Him a secret from them anymore. Not after they got hurt as badly as they did for trying to help me. I need to give them the choice to walk away from me right now. I can't keep lying to myself that they will stand by me against him…not after I tell them why we are being attacked in every world. I suspected it at first. I saw the swords and clothes. I heard the speech and the accents enough as well. I just didn't want to believe that He was looking for me in other worlds. I didn't want to believe that he had the means to get out.

I want them to leave me though. I don't want to watch them get hurt on my stead or…die. I wouldn't be able to handle that. I curl up my knees to my chest and bring my hands up to cover my face. I will suffer if it means they will all live. They don't deserve the things I've forced on them.

I stop as I hear them coming down the hall. Zuo and Xion don't make sounds when they move so it must be my group. I burry my face into my knees and curl my hands up against my chest. I remember one of my most recent nightmares. He had Kurogane's severed head in one hand and Syaoran's dead body under his foot. He held up the hammer in his other hand and blasted Sakura apart just like Hiro was. I don't want that to happen to any of them.

I peek up to see them. Sakura comes in first. I close my eyes as she stops in shock. I'm a mess, I know. I must look like a crazy woman though, huddled up like I am. A scared animal even. My throat pulses with pain. Is this what I've come to after everything? Being looked at like someone might look at a wounded wolf?

I open my eyes and watch Xion nudges her forward. He helps her sit on a pillow at the far right corner of my bed. I should have told him not to bring her here. I close my eyes for a moment. Whatever I say will destroy her the most.

Zuo came in next supporting Syaoran. His shirt is gone and his ribs are wrapped. His face is pale, but he looks better than I imagined. He locks eyes with me and his face scrunches up in sadness. I clench my teeth. Zuo puts him against the far wall to the right of the window. I feel the heat from the sunlight hitting my covers. I curl my toes back against me to get them away from the warmth. I don't want to be warm now.

Fai came in then with Kurogane. He's was limping and I can see the bandages around his leg. I close my eyes and nudge them down. Can I do this to him? Can I destroy this man by telling him all my lies? I should have told them to run, to leave me in that world with His. This would all be simpler then.

I bring my face up and look at them all. Kurogane is propped up next to Syaoran and Fai is seated across from Sakura. He's smiling. I dig my nails into my hand. I don't like how silent they are. They haven't said anything. Are they mad at me? I knew that man, they must know that. Zuo leaves and firmly shuts the door behind his aunt. I don't know what to say.

"How do you feel, Nakietra?" Fai asked in a light tone after a while. I stare at him and turn my eyes down. When has he ever called me by my real name? There's somewhere inside him that's mad at me. I feel blood under my thumb. Of course he is. My secrets almost killed his family. I peeked through my fingers.

"I'm sorry," I respond even though everything hurt on me. I don't even know how long I can sit up for before my mind collapses from exhaustion and the memories. "I…I'm so sorry. I should have told you…about…The Prince," I start as my breaths start to turn shaky. My lungs are contracting too much because of the medicine.

"He's someone from your past, isn't he?" Syaoran asks kindly. I nod my head "yes". I try to breath. I can see him in my head. I remember him as a boy, always stained with the blood of animals. I remember him now with his body stained with the blood of my brother and his father.

"Yes," My voice is like a whisper, "He's from…my home." Home is just one big wound. Now that everyone happy is gone, there's only those who call for blood left and none of them know how to act.

I think of my death. My body won't be burred in any sacred pit. No one will mourn or celebrate me during The Dead Days. There won't be any ancient songs for my name. My soul will wander aimlessly. I won't find the City of Wind. There will be no stone coffin for my possessions next to my brother's. I shut my eyes as tears come forward. I will never see my family again, none of them.

"He's a prince you said, for your homeland?" Fai asks for clarification. The smile is gone from his voice. It's dark and serious now. Fai is never serious.

"He's king now," I say bitterly and then bite my palm. The pain isn't enough to block out the memories. I remember the King, lying on the ground in his own blood. His face was shocked as it stared at nothing. I remember Hiro's body being thrown aside like trash, and then I remember backing away into the secret passageway when he heard me gasp. My heart is beating too fast.

"Why was he after you?" Kurogane asks softly. I look at him and take my hand away to dig my nails in more. He's watching me. His jaw tightens. I feel my face scrunch up and I hide away into my knees. He's mad at me.

"I…I got away… the only one…who got away," I gasp and dig into my wrists. It's more sensitive. I can't calm down. Everything hurts but not as much as my heart or the memories.

"Maybe you should start at the beginning," Fai says. It's not a suggestion. His voice is hard. I can't bring my face up to face them. My breathing to coming too fast now.

"He…no…" I try to start but then stop. The beginning is long before Hiro's death. It started with the lightening hammer. No…it started with the tiger colored cat that lived in the garden.

"You aren't going to tell us?" Fai asks.

"…it started a long time ago," I start and look up. I don't open my eyes. I don't want to repeat myself. "My home…" I don't know how to start the story. I won't talk about the cat. I'll just talk about the hammer. That's the only important thing here.

"There was…a magician…he had no magic…our king….made him an advisor…..we didn't like him. He found the hammer, and he took over…Our people saved the King…we were sent to Marina…" I pause and took a few deep breaths.

"We saved out home…but…The Prince…he found the hammer. I…no, we were in the courtyard when the King summoned him away…I watched the meeting from behind a curtain…I saw the King dead…I watched The Prince…kill…him…he killed…Hiro," I say with my back hiccupping. I can't stop seeing Hiro dead. No one tried to comfort me. I brushed my eyes on my knees to wipe the tears away. It's better this way if they don't touch me, and if I don't look at them. I continue.

"He killed everyone…I was…someone sent me…to the witch again for help…I didn't…I didn't think he'd come after me…I knew he was though…he's the one…who's been attacking us…I knew it….I never told anyone," I continue. I can't get my breathing under control at all. My hands feel numb. I dig my fingers deeper into my arm. I feel the blood against my shirt.

"You should have warned us," Kurogane says. I glance to him and then look away. He's looking at the ground and his face is colder than I've ever seen it. He's blaming me…I deserve it. I deserve it all. I was meant to be alone, to be the outsider. I let out a sob. I'm all alone….

I want my brother, I keep remembering all the things he used to tell me when I was pushed away by the village. He would tell me not to worry when I knew I should. He always care of it and would kiss me on the head and tell me to sleep…I want to be home with him. I bring my fingers up to my head. I feel like screaming for him. I dig my nails into my head. I wish everything was not on me! I wish I wasn't alone! Why do I always have to be alone?!

"Who is Marina?" Fai asks, "You never told us." I can't answer. I can only remember her as the woman who made my brother kiss the ground, who made him beg because she just laughed in our faces when we asked for help. She treated us like rats, like nothing to her. I claw down my head. I remember my necklace, the one Hiro bought me when I was little. The Dimensional Witch took that from me. I hate her too. She's just as bad as Marina. I feel someone's arms wrap around me. I tighten up.

NO! I DON'T WANT THEIR PITY! I NEED THEM TO GET AWAY FROM ME! I'VE HAD ENOUGH WITH PITY!

I take my hands away from my head and push the person away from me. "Don't," I mutter as the person uncurls their arms from my shoulders, "touch me." They tumble back on the floor. Nothing is easy in life, I should know that by now.

"Sakura!" Syaoran exclaims. There's hair wrapped around my fingers now. My nails are slick with blood. They aren't working anymore.

"Nakietra!" Fai exclaims and steps over my bed. They don't care, but I already knew that. They were just tolerating me. I don't respond to anything they say.

"Why did you do that?" He asks almost shocked. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. Go away. "You could have hurt her." Go away. GO. GO. GO. GO. GO. GO. I JUST WANT THEM ALL TO GO AWAY! I DON'T WANT THEIR PITY! I DON'T WANT ANYTHING FROM THEM!

The door opens. "What's going on here?" Xion asks roughly. She rips my hands away from my arms and holds them far back. I try to pull them away from her but she hold me steady. "Zuo!" She says sharply. I hear people move out and I hear Zuo talking.

"Can I stay?" I hear Kurogane say. She doesn't answer. I don't want him here. I want to be alone. She presses her fingers to my bleeding wrist.

"You have done even more damage to yourself now," She says in a disappointed voice. "Zuo, I will need bandages." No one says anything. She presses a finger to my other wrist.

"She needs to calm down. Her pulse is too fast," She says and gently gave me back my other arm. I just let it fall. Everything hurts too much. "You need to let her rest. I won't move you if you leave her alone," She states.

"I will," Kurogane responds quietly. I feel her wrapping bandage around my bleeding wrists. She doesn't bother to wash the blood away. She drops my arm and looks through my hair. Someone inhales sharply at the sight. It's not Xion or Zuo.

"I won't bandage you're head, but you can't hurt yourself again like this," She says to me I don't respond. She shifts me down and lets me lie down. I curl into a ball on my side and hide my head. She leaves and closes the door.

"It's just me," He mutters and takes one of my hands. I rip my hand away from him. His touch hurt me just as much as this bed. My muscles are sensitive. He doesn't try to touch me again.

"That man, the prince, he killed your brother and your king," He states. I nod my head in confirmation. Where is he going with this? "And this man has been searching for you and that's why we've been attacked in other worlds," He asks. I nod my head again. I feel my breathing getting uncontrollable again. I am to blame for all of it. I already knew this though. "We'll get him for it then," He says and kisses my forehead. I shake my head.

"I lied to you," I say. I look up and watch him nod his head.

"You did it to protect yourself," He responds. I still stare up at him. I remember his cold face and see that it's not angry. The anger is not at me right now, but before it must have been.

"I don't need your pity," I say. He takes my hand.

"This isn't pity…I don't like seeing you scared, and I don't like this man who killed your brother and has given you nightmares ever since you came to us…I need to help you, we need to help you defeat him and save your home," He says.

"You don't have to. You can leave me. You can save yourselves," I whisper. My nightmares came back of him bleeding on the ground with the prince cutting him apart limb by limb while he screams for me to help him and then he's dead when I get there.

"I do," He responds, "because I love you." My heart stops. When was the last time someone said that to me? I can't remember. Even Hiro stopped telling me after a while. I clutch at his hand with both of mine. He wasn't going to leave me…I don't know whether to be happy or scared. I'm both though.

"Why do you take that medicine?" He asks then. My body stops and my hands loosen themselves. He's never asked me why, he always just assumed. I take a deep breath. I need to give him a choice. I need to let him walk away if he wants to.

"I'm dying from a disease that destroys my lungs," I say.

"There's no cure?" He asks. He's not surprised. I close my eyes. He already knows. He knew I was keeping things from him when he asked to stay.

"No," I whisper. He doesn't say anything. He'll leave me eventually…they all do.

"_Why does he waste so much time on you? Everyone knows you're going to die, so just do it already."_

Everyone abandons me eventually. I remember Him saying that to me while he held the dead garden cat in one hand. There was a knife in his hand with dried blood flaking off it. That was before my father died.

"_I don't understand you. You act like you have a future, Hiro acts like you have a future. You don't. You were born to die, so just leave him alone already and let him move on with our life."_

Ira said that to me after the wedding. Hiro should have left me…he wouldn't be dead. He would be with Ira, having a chance at a real family instead of just me.

"It doesn't matter if you're sick," He finally says. I let out a long rugged breath. "I will love you until your death then if you'll let me," He finishes. I relax. Everything hurts too much.

"Do you know how long you have left?" he asks.

"No…how did you find out?" I mutter. I'm close to passing out from exhaustion.

"Xion told us…and I suspect it from what the doctor said when he talked to be about Dawn," He answers. I nod my head and fall asleep.


	23. Raguna

The day disappeared into night. Kurogane was allowed to be with Nakietra, but no one else was allowed at all. When they saw her the next morning, up and walking around, Sakura and Syaoran smiled at her. Fai didn't smile though at all and she noticed it. She left it alone though as Nero banged on the door with his head. Zuo let him in and found Mokona and a feather with him. Sakura was the most impressed that they were able to get a feather. Xion kept her word and gave Sakura the feather she rightfully won. Xion did not show them off outside her house, but her nephew did.

Fai was informed on how to make Nakietra's medicine as well as everything he would need to know as her disease progressed. He listened carefully. He and everyone else got very depressed when they heard she only had one month (maybe two) left to live. Nakietra didn't say anything about that as they moved into their next world. There, they saw that she was no weaker or any different than she always was except when night came. That was the only times she asked to be alone, even to Kurogane, Mokona, and Nero. Worlds passed through their eyes, almost a new one every day. Fai kept track of it just like Nakietra was.

This landing was calm just like every recent one. There was no open space here though, it was a cave. Along the walls were a few torches, barely enough to see by. Nakietra lit a fire ball and held it up to see. Immediately every reached for their weapons as they saw the creatures appear in the darkness.

Nakietra threw the ball at the ceiling and kept it there just how the spirits taught her. Kurogane covered her back then and they moved two steps out from everyone else to give themselves them. Nero took the middle then while Syaoran and Fai covered Sakura. He was starting to get good with the knife Tomoyo left him.

The creatures were never ending. Many of the creatures were just a little bit shorter than Sakura, and all were armored. Nakietra held one close before knocking it unconscious. It disappeared in her hands and she watched a blue ball of light float up to the ceiling. She watched it disappear and she understood where she was and knew what these creatures were: Orcs.

**Nakietra**

We need to escape. Unless we could destroy whatever is bringing these monster from the other world (machine or portal), they will just keep attacking us. It's easier to escape since no one here knows what to look for. Hell, I don't even know what I'm looking for because I know we aren't in any of the caves around Kardia. I see a path leading up. It will slow us down but heading up always seemed to work in the past. I nudge Kurogane.

"Up there!" I yell and point. He gets my meaning and turns to lead the way. I take my place next to Nero and we heard the other's that way. Nero falls back and takes out a few. I pause and send a few fireballs but we don't linger. The path ahead straightened and we came into natural light. I kept everyone going until they were in the sunlight near the edge. I looked back and saw the monsters couldn't even leave the cave. They can't stray far from their portals I remember..

"They won't leave the cave," I tell them and relax. I lower myself and sit on the ground. I feel exhausted. I wish I could sleep just a little bit.

"Nakietra, do you know this place?" Fai asked and sheathed his knife. Mokona was hiding in his shirt and looked like he was asleep again. Moving us from world to world seemed to be more exhausting for him as the days went by. I look behind us. This place is shaped into an oval and there's an overreach also to block the worst of the sun. There's plenty of sky visible though and the land looks very far down from the little bit I can see through the clouds. We must be on a mountain. I inhale deeply. It smells like fall and the air is freezing up here.

"Not this place, but I know the world. This is where Marina is, and she has a feather for us," I share and continue to look out. I'm tempted to look over the edge but I'm afraid of what I'll find.

"If we find Marina, you can save your home then," Sakura says happily. I nod my head, not sharing her enthusiasm. I don't want to even think about seeing Marina again even though I know I have to.

"Mokona, where's the feather?" I ask while looking at the quiet cream puff. He shudders awake and things.

"Mm…it really far under us," He responds while his eyes scrunched up. I rub my shoulders. I don't want to climb down from this mountain.

"That…can't be good," I respond. I close my eyes and try to imagine Nero or Sakura making it down a mountain alive. If it's too steep neither will be able to get a foot hold. Mokona means its mostly under us though so that means it's underground. I grimace. I don't want to see anymore spiders.

My ears perk up and I open my eyes. Someone is making crunching noises with the ground. I look around and see two hands appear over the edge and then a dark brown head. My breath slows. Could it be…? The arms pull the person up and I jump to my feet. I wait until he's over the edge to run to him.

"Raguna," I say and stop right in front of him. He looks down at me and smiles. I smile back. I've missed Raguna the most out of all the people I met on my journey's with Hiro.

"It's good to see you again Nakietra," He says happily. I wonder if he's still being forced to house Marina.

"Not for good reasons of course," I say and my smile fails me. He takes one of my hands and squeezes it. I squeeze back. No one likes Marina but everyone needs to listen to her for one reason or another.

"Did something happen at home?" He asks ad his smile fades. I nod my head yes.

"Where are we?" I ask and step back. He lets go of my hand.

"Whale Island. It's an island in the shape of a whale that floats in the sky above a village called Trampoli," He responds. I don't recognize the village's name, but I shiver. This place is an island that floats in the air? Land isn't meant to float in the air. I don't even like falling.

"It…floats?" I question and shudder. I don't like anything that just….floats in air at least. I always feel like it's going to fall. It unnerves me more that I'm on this MAGICALLY floating land. Magic is always temperamental.

"I've been trying to investigate, but a lot of the monsters here are pretty strong," He says his eyes wondering past me.

"These are my friends," I explain while looking back at my gathering group and gesturing to them to come forward, "I've been traveling with them."

"I'm Raguna," He introduces and smiles. Everyone introduces themselves and asks a lot of question about this place. I look over the edge and see a giant plant that reaches up here from the ground. I back up and swallow hard. That's a really long way to fall. There's no way Nero is going to get down there and there's a good chance Sakura will fall.

"Raguna, my group isn't going to be able to climb down there. Not everyone at least," I tell him. He hesitates. Not a good sign from Raguna who is always very forthcoming.

"I have an idea for that. There's a girl named Candy in the village who's very close with the Rune Spirits. She asked them to carry her and her sister here from their home, so maybe she could ask them to bring everyone down here," He explains. I trust this plan about as much as I trust any stranger. I want to meet this Candy before even thinking of trying this.

"I want to meet this Candy first," I say.

"I thought you would say that. Let's start climbing. Who else is coming down but you?" He asks and gestured to the edge. I look over and swallow hard again. I take a deep breath and take a step down to the stalk and start climbing. Syaoran says he's staying and Kurogane is coming with me. Raguna steps down after me and I feel a little safer. I can't fall here, there's no one to catch me.

I keep my calm through the while climb and sigh with relief as I step onto stable ground. I felt like the stalk was shifting with the wind but it could have been my imagination. I look up at the stalk and see it standing perfectly straight. The wind isn't moving it at all. I look around.

To the left of the stalk is an old fortress looking building with a clock face. It looks to be about two floors high and is entirely made of brick. In front of the bottom part of the clock face is a walkway. The clock doesn't work it seems sadly. It would have been nice if it did because the sun is always screwy here. All around the base are patches of yellowing grass and browning leaves. It's defiantly fall here. I hug my shoulders and step back a little bit. Raguna jumps down first and then Kurogane. That climb froze me. I can't wait to get in front of a fire. I should have asked Mokona for my cloak. I look to Raguna.

"That wasn't too bad," Raguna says with a small smile. He's still wearing that buttoned up indigo shirt with the leather apron over it. His dark grey gloves reach just below his elbows and his pants and boots cover his legs. He hasn't changed at all, not that I expected him to.

"Where's this Candy?" I ask. He gestures to the tower. I don't feel confident about this plan.

"She lives here with her older sister and grandpa," He says and walks up to the door. Without a knock or shout he walks through the door. That's perfectly normal in this world though. At least, in this country. Everyone was friendly and thought the best of everyone until proved otherwise. Doors were unlocked during the days, and almost everyone had a key to everyone's house for when the doors were locked at night. I follow Raguna with Kurogane behind me. He hasn't said anything this entire time, but he takes my hand. His hands are warm from the climb. He's not used to it like I am.

The inside of the clock tower is filled with cracking, dreary stones. This place really needs some work but it's common for no one to fix up their houses if it still stands. The second floor is better though. The stones are newer and there is a fire and small kitchen. Something is cooking in the oven that smells like fish but I don't see anyone.

"Hey Cinnamon," Raguna calls and pokes his head into the second door on the left.

"Hey," A quiet voice responds. Raguna closes the door and then goes to the last door. Cinnamon must be the older sister then. He opens this door completely and then walks in. I follow inside. The room is small and rectangular with one bed and a dresser. There's a small girl and boy by the bed.

"Raguna!" the girl exclaims.

"Hey Candy. Can you do me a favor?" Raguna asks, leaning over to be eye level with her. I ignore the scowling boy. Candy is a small child that is possible ten. She's wearing a baggy strawberry and yellow shirt with a delicate white skirt to go with it. Hiding her red hair was an over grown hat that matches her shirt in color. The boy beside her is equally as short with elf ears poking out from under his blond hair. He's an elf, but I'm not sure if he's pure blood or not. His clothes are puffy blue pants with a matching shirt, and another white shirt mostly covering that. Around his head is a decorated black head band. Candy smiles at me.

"Sure. What is it?" She asks excitedly.

"There are three people and a wolf on Whale Island. Could you ask the spirits to carefully bring them down here?" He asked. The girl thought about it and looked up into the air.

"I need 40 of each Runey," She responds after a lot of thought. Raguna doesn't say anything for a while. Slowly, he reaches around and took off his slim pack. It always blends so well with his clothes that I always forget about it. He takes out a bulky grey machine and puts it on the ground. Candy kneels on the ground and opens it up. Rune Spirits filled the air. My eyes widen as I watch them swirl around. I've never been able to see them so clearly before.

Candy starts singing then and some went back in the machine. I stared at the spirits again. Raguna always said he couldn't see them, but I always could. These were so much bigger and clearer though than in Kardia. She opens the door to the right and they fly out in a matter of seconds. Raguna picks up the machine and sighs.

"Where will they take them?" He asks Candy.

"To your house," She responds happily as she shuts the door. It looks like it leads to outside. That must be how you get to the walkway.

"Okay. Thanks Candy," He says and starts leaving.

"Bye Raguna!" She yells as we all file out. Raguna says goodbye to the girl in the second room, but that was only thing spoken until we got outside. Once out, I start to see them more clearly. Sprits are floating in the air all around us, singing soft tunes together as they dance around. I was too cold to notice any of it before.

"I thought they were strange when I first came here," Raguna says as he starts down the short hill that leads to a crossroad.

"You never saw them before though," I respond weakly and follow. Kurogane still hasn't let go of my hand. He let's go and wraps an arm around me. He's so warm…

"No one in Kardia ever saw the spirits this clearly," He says and takes the path to the right. I nod my head in agreement and then pause.

"Raguna, why did you leave Kardia?" I ask seriously. I remember Raguna being engaged when I left. Why is he here in this village instead of there?

"Mist disappeared from the village suddenly. I went searching for her, and then I found her here," He says and laughs softly, "Ironically she showed me to another rundown house with an overgrown field in need of work. This one just happened not to belong to her." I laugh myself softly. I know the story well of how he stumbled into Kardia, having complete amnesia, and she gave him a hoe and watering can instead of food and water like he asked. I also knew how she had then forced him to live on her extra farm and run it. For it to happen again…well that's a one in a million shot.

"Raguna, you're a sucker for women," I state. He was going to marry Felicity though. Mist shouldn't have mattered.

"I know. Why else would I still let Marina live in my house," He says and continues straight. Neither of us are smiling anymore I know. I don't even need to see his face to know that.

"Why didn't you marry Felicity?" I ask. She wouldn't have left Kardia with him. She loved the town too much and her father even more, but he wouldn't have left her alone there and still be here. He found Mist, he should have left.

"She got married to someone else," He says and I shut up. I wish I hadn't brought it up.

We arrived at what I guess is his farm. There's a stretch of field to my left and was mostly tame and cleared while there's a one story house was to my right. Both need some work still, but the repairs are expensive and stumps ad huge rocks like those are hard to remove.

"Here we are," he announces and stops in the area between the front door and the field. I smile softly just as he does. Raguna has no problems working in a field. He enjoys it.

"Do you know if Marina is inside?" I ask and carefully step out from under Kurogane's arm. I need to look strong in front of Marina. She has a habit of appearing around corners whenever someone needs her or doesn't want to see her specifically.

"Nakietra, didn't I tell you that you would be back? I thought you would have brought your brother with you though, but I guess I don't have the option to be choosy with who died when it comes to anyone who's is born with insanity," Marina's silky voice come then. I look past Raguna and see her turn around the corner of the house. Raguna looks back at her, his face hard. Her hazel hair is tied back this time with two curls free and framing the sides of her face. She's dressed in a dark green kimono today with soft pink thread sew into swirls of vines. Her smile is still just as sugary and deadly as I remember.

"The Witch Marina, I have a bargain to strike with you," I say strongly and clench my fists at my sides. She looks me over and smirks. I am not afraid of her, I just hate her.

"Do you really? I know for a fact that you have nothing I want…Th is only one thing I want is an apprentice. Sadly, you're still not the right gender though," She says sourly and then stares behind me at Kurogane. I will not bargain with another person's life. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. She's right, there's nothing I can give her. Except…

"My home is in danger and I want you to save it again. In return, I offer you my servitude for the rest of my life as well as the Lightning hammer," I say formally.

"We went over this last time. The hammer you have isn't real. It's a poor copy and I don't want it. Also, your servitude is less than appreciated considering you don't have much longer to live," She responds as she examines her clean nails. They're pained a shimmery green with some sort of elaborate design with black swirls on them. I clenched my teeth. I need her to help me. I have two more options left. Slowly I crawl on my knees and bow down with my forehead pressed against the ground.

"On my death, I promise you my knife and all the artifacts that go with it. Please, will you reconsider?" I ask. My voice is shaking. I'm angry. I hate her.

"The proud Nakietra, on her knees, bowing and begging to me. Like your brother did," I hear the laugh in her voice, "We both know that didn't work last time," She says and I can hear her smiling. "I will grant your request though, just because I _really_ like your brother. What do you want from me exactly?" She asks. I rise up from the ground and wipe the dust form my face. I sit back on my legs and stare at the ground. I can't look at her.

"I want something that will kill Benji. He has the hammer and it's made immune from normal weapons," I say. I feel tears in my eyes. I won't cry in front of her. I feel so humiliated now. Both Kurogane and Raguna are watching me act like a little girl. I hate it. She thinks about it.

"I will have your solution tomorrow. In the meantime," She says and I heard the smirk in her voice, "There are things to do. Raguna, show the men how to do your normal work. Nakietra will show the girl how to do hers." I hear her sweep into the house then and the door slams shut. It's made of thin wood. Behind me I hear the swoop and exclaims of my group. It looks like Candy kept her deal. I thought I was done with this crap when I left last time. I wipe my face.

"Nakietra, let me show you the inside," Raguna says quickly and grabs my arm. I let him pull me up and then into the house.

"I'm sorry," He states and shakes his head. He releases me and I look around the dimly lit house just so he doesn't see my face.

It's cramped, more so than the old house. In the corner to the right of the door is a small forge, in the upper right is a medicine area, and then the kitchen is to the left. In front of me is a dying fire with a bookcase and chest to the left and a desk to the right. His small bed is in the last corner with a hole-filled cover. It matched the nightstand next to it that was falling apart and the ratty rug in front of the fireplace.

I look at the kitchen. The boxes of vegetables and uncooked food are lining the wall toward the bed and I see all the papers taped to the tops of them. I let out a long breath. I wish I didn't recognize this. The kitchen is equipped with the basics: a cutting board, sink, a small pan and hot plate, as well as one space of clear countertop.

"I haven't been able to do much work on the house yet, but it's enough to get by for now," Raguna explains. He's trying to distract my mind. My anger for Marina is gone now and all I feel is empty. I hate how everything is so hard. Everything is a challenge.

"What has to be done?" I ask even though I can guess.

"Well…those crates are all separated by recipe already. You know what to do with the rest," He says grimly. I walk to the first crate and look at the paper on top

_Popcorn_

_Remove corn from husk and fry in pan until kernels pop._

This is easy. I look at the other recipes. They're all easy and with instructions. I rub my shoulders. It's cold in here.

_Grilled Char_

_Smoked Salmon_

_Pickles_

_Pickled Turnip_

_Rice Ball_

_Needle _Sasami

Sakura can only help me with some of them. She'll learn how to cook a little better today at least. I wish there was a way to not make her help me.

"I can do this," I tell him. He nods his head

"Once the field is done, I'll come help. There's still some medicine I have to make, as well as some…work in the forge," Raguna responds with a sigh of exhaustion. I feel bad for him. He has to deal with this crap every single day and he can never get all of it done in one day.

"It alright, I can do it by myself," I say with a sigh. I pick up a crate and bring it closer to the kitchen. My arms shake, but I manage alright. I can't believe how weak I've been feeling recently.

"I need you to tell me about your team so I can give them work they can do," He says hesitantly before leaving. I pause for a moment before taking out the huge amount of corn husks so I could start making popcorn.

"What needs to be done first?" I ask as I start to tear the leaves away from each corn. I'll just start husking them for now.

"The field needs to be cleared, a bag has to get filled with fresh fish, and errands need to be run in town," He asks.

"Kurogane and Syaoran can help with the field, Fai can fish, and Sakura is supposed to help me in here. Nero can help in the field too if you let him," I slowly name off.

"Kurogane and Syaoran: field. Fai: fish. Sakura: house," He repeats.

"Yes," I say with a smile. He always had a good memory, "I can help you in town also."

"It would be my pleasure to show you Trampoli," He says and leaves with a small smile on his face. I smile to myself. Raguna was always ready to make new friends and also to do work. I remember helping him and Hiro work in the field for a full season. I always had to do all this cooking afterwards though. I helped clear dungeons, gather materials, and even fish too. I close my eyes. Those were better times even though we had to come back to Marina every night. The door opens and Sakura comes in with Mokona whose sleeping again.

"Put him in front of the fire," I tell her and put aside the three shelled corns. After a while, you get very fast at this. Slowly I broke the hard kernels away with a knife and put them in the pan. Sakura silently watches over my shoulder. I glance back to her.

"Have you ever husked corn?" I ask. She steps next to me front of the mountain of corn.

"No," She responds and picks up a corn. I pick up one of the husks.

"You take the tip of one of the leaves and pull it all the way down til it breaks off at the other end," I say and demonstrated. She tried and it breaks off halfway where the leaves get harder. "It's alright. You just keep taking away the outside leaved until they're all gone," I say and put the husk down to work with the kernels in the pan. As I plucked the kernels away, I watched her work determinedly next to me. I smiled to myself. Sakura is always so determined.

"Have you ever had popcorn?" I ask her as I add oil and heat to the pan.

"Once. It was fluffy though," She says. I smile a little.

"This will be soon. Keep going, we have a lot of work to get through," I encourage and she started working at a faster pace. Soon it was a never ending process. Sakura husked the corn, I picked off the kernels, cooked it, and then put it in a container for sale (which were folded up in the bottom of the crate). By that time, another few corns were waiting for me. I don't know how many batches we made, but the containers soon perfectly filled up the crate and we ran out of corn. I wiped my sweaty hands on my dress and sighed. One recipe down, six more to go. Sakura already looks tired

"We're done?" She asks. I shake my head no and almost laugh. Work was never done when you lived with Marina.

"We have six more recipes to do," I tell her and turn to the crates. "Wash the pan please," I ask and picked up the now filled crate of popcorn. I carry it over and put it on the forge side of the door. I hear the water run as I walk over and picked up the next crate. I pull it over and pop it open. The fish are already scaled, gutted, and salted. They only needed to be cooked now. I certainly don't need Sakura for this. I pick up another recipe for Sakura to work on: rice balls.

"What are we doing now?" She asks as she puts the now dry pan back on the hotplate.

"I'm going to make some grilled char. Meanwhile, you're going to make rice balls," I say and drop the rice case closer to her. The rice was already cooked and just needed to be formed and wrapped in seaweed. I guess Raguna already started most of these recipes. Marina probably just put them out though. I look at Sakura and see her smiling. I smile back. I know she knows how to make these.

"Get to it. The sooner we finish, the faster we can go help the boys," I say and pull my crate closer so that it was next to me on the opposite side. I cook two fish on the grill attachment at once and easily finished filling the box before Sakura was halfway done with hers. I smile at her determination and hardworking attitude as I washed the rack. Fish is quick and easy.

"You're done already?" She asks disappointedly.

"Fish cooks quickly. Don't worry, there's plenty of work to do," I say as I run water over my hands. They already hurt from touching the rock salt.

"Right," She says determinedly and goes back to completely focusing on her work. I decide not to disturb her at all. I put the crate next to the other one before getting a new one: Smoked Salmon. The recipe is easy and only requires me to smoke the salmon pieces at this point. I remember cooking with my grandmother a few times. We always cooked fish together that my cousins caught in the stream. They were tiny things. Under my breath, I hum a tune. I don't remember the words or what it's called, but we always hummed it while we cooked. My mother knew the words though even though my grandmother didn't.

"What's that song called?" Sakura asks. I stop and look over to her. Her crate was packed and she stood ready for more work. She looks tired just like me.

"I don't remember. It's a child's song from my home," I say stiffly. "Done?" I question even though I know the answer. She nods her head. I moved the crate away and get her a new one.

"What's left to cook?" She asks as I'm choosing.

"There's Needle Sasami, Pickles, and Pickled Turnips," I name off, not knowing which was the easiest to make for her.

"I know how to pickle stuff," She says and smiles. I smile back and pick up the crate of cucumbers. I placed it next to her and check my fish. Usually it would take a lot longer, but the fish was already cured and halfway finished. It just needs to be heated up a little on some cedar planks. Sakura was finished were her crate quickly and she got the turnips all by herself. I stared the sasami and then she was done. I put my crate to the side the others and wonder how we're going to move them all to the shipping box.

"Do we have to do anything else?" Sakura asks. I look around and let out a huff of air. I know what we should to at least to help Raguna out.

"We have to clean the house and make medicine for Raguna," I name off from what I remember doing in Kardia. Sakura would never be able to make the medicine so the split was even. "You do the house and I'll-," The door opens. I turn to see Raguna, sweaty and tired.

"Are you ready to go into town?" He asks as he looks at the crates and smile. I smile too.

"We finished the food," I say.

"I see that," He says. He takes off his pack and puts a few things from the crates in there before putting it back on.

"Is the field done?" I ask.

"Yeah. The other two are just getting a drink from the stream," He says and picked up two of the crates, "These actually have to go in the shipping box." He smiles sheepishly. I walk over and pick up one. My arms are tired, but I can do it.

"I know. I'll help you," I say. Raguna is just a little cute in his own boyish way. He reminds me of Toya sometimes…before my Sakura was killed that is.

"You don't have to," He says quickly and heads out the open door.

"I want to though," I respond. I notice Sakura scamper over and pick up a crate too. I see her struggle more than me, but she manages. Together we walk across the cool air to the huge box on the edge of the field. I shiver. More cold air. It was nice when I was cooking because there was heat from the hotplate. The boys are sitting in the shade by the steam, cooling off even though it's already cool out. Raguna shifts his boxes to one hand and opens the box. I put my crate in and then put his and Sakura's in. She smiles happily at him.

"Thank you," Raguna says and smiles to Sakura. She smiles back and looks very happy. He closes the box and heads back to the house. There are still three crates there.

"You're welcome," She responds and follows him. I stop and let them keep going. They can handle the rest of the crates. I'd rather check on the other two and make sure they're okay. I sit in the grass with them. It feels nice to sit down.

"What did you have to do?" Kurogane asks.

"Cook," I respond and look up. There are some clouds and the sky is like a sapphires. It makes sense since the sun is setting now.

"What did you make?" Syaoran asked with a smile.

"Salmon, Char, Popcorn, Pickles, Turnips, Rice Balls, and Needle fish," I name off my fingers. I'm amazed I remembered them all.

"Do we get any of that?" Syaoran asks looking hungry.

"No," I sigh. Syaoran looks a little disappointed, but I can't do anything about that. "What do you guys think of Raguna?" I ask.

"We didn't really talk. He was nice though and works hard," Syaoran says and shrugs.

"He's a good guy," I respond and smile. Syaoran doesn't realize he just summarized Raguna completely. I look over. Sakura is talking to him while they carry the boxes out.

"When did you meet him?" Kurogane asks.

"I met him in a village called Kardia. Marina was with him already at that point. Raguna is going to take me into town soon," I say. I watch as Raguna puts his and Sakura's boxes in the shipping box, but they continue to talk. I want to sleep but I don't want to be here. I'd rather go to town.

"You trust him?" Kurogane questions.

"Yes," I answer and slowly get to my feet. Everything feels unstable now in my body. More unstable I guess I should say.

"Nakietra!" Raguna calls across the field. I stand up and brush the dead grass off my dress.

"I'll be back later," I tell them and jog over to him. Raguna is already walking down the path we had taken from the clock tower. I slow down and fall in step with him. He starts talking then. He mentions the people who followed him here: Lara, Mist, and Rosaline. He tells me their stories and how they are and so forth. He mentions Bianca and Tabatha and how they come in the summer and left a few weeks ago when it got colder. I wouldn't expect them to stay, Bianca is picky and Tabatha follows her everywhere. Then he tells me about the village.

Kurogane follows them. Syaoran was hesitant to cover for him, but both agreed that Nakietra's mind hasn't been completely sane since the desert town. He watched them though and listened to parts of their conversations. They sounded like friends. They talked about the people they just visited and also about people they both seemed to know. They didn't touch each other and Nakietra kept her arms wrapped around her shoulders.

When he was convinced they were only good friends and that she was safe, he headed back to the house. Everyone was already home and sitting in front of the fire. Fai was making dinner and there were blankets spread out to make beds for everyone. Nero was gone though, hunting everyone assumed. It was late when Nakietra and Raguna came back, but no one seemed bother. Raguna complimented Fai's cooking while everyone talked to him about anything they could think of. Nakietra didn't eat and just settled on the bed closest to the fire. Kurogane moved by her while listening to Raguna. His amount of knowledge and stories was amazing and had everyone entrapped in them.

Kurogane set a blanket over her and touched her cheek. She was still as ice cold as she had been earlier. He poked her three times. She rolled over.

"What?" She asked. Her eyes are barely open at all. She yawns and wakes herself up a little but her complexion looks just as bad as before.

"Do you need to take your medicine?" He asked. She closed her eyes while she thought about it.

"Yes," She answered. She lifted her head up to check where everyone was before settling back down. He could tell she wasn't even thinking about getting up at this point. "Aren't you tired?" She asked.

"No," He answered with a small smile. She smiled back and took his hand. She rolled on her side to face him, using her other arm as a pillow.

"I feel so tired even though I really didn't anything today," She answered with another yawn. Both of them talked in whispers and stopped when Raguna stopped or when someone asked a question.

"You used a lot of ruins this morning, you climbed down that huge stalk, you cooked a lot, and then you went walking through the town," He named off. She yawned again, looking more and more awake.

"True," She responded and snuggled into her arm.

"Sleep," Kurogane said and released her hand. She frowned and rolled back over just as Fai came over. He lay down on the blanket next to Kurogane and let out a goofy sigh. Kurogane got up and gave Nakietra her medicine before falling asleep while Raguna's stories continued into the depths of night with the other three listening.


	24. A Fate Sealed, A Door Opened

Raguna was up with the sun just like Nero. Both yawned and stretched before noticing Nakietra awake. Raguna watched her work at the medicine table before getting up. He noticed that the fire was built up before going over to her. He waited for her to finish her mixture before bothering her.

"Nakietra," He said and touched her shoulder. She twitched and looked back at him. He could tell she hadn't slept very much during the night.

"I made some food and set it on the counter for you. It should still be warm," She said and then got to her feet. She took her three filled medicine bottle and put them in the chest next to her. He smiled softly as Nero came over to. She ran a hand through the hair on his head and kissed him.

"Why didn't you sleep?" He asked her. He peeked in the chest as she opened it and saw it was mostly filled but for two more slots. She must have worked all night to fill it. They weren't the quick medicines he made either, they were the strong durable ones that he could only get through Lara when she had the time to make them for him.

"I don't sleep," She answered and slowly rose to her feet. He didn't ask her anymore and went to get his breakfast. Nakietra watched him and then turned back to the table to finish making the medicine for Raguna. Without a word, Raguna left with Nero next to him. When the medicine was done, Nakietra made food for everyone else and slowly started to wake them up one by one, starting with Kurogane.

Kurogane pulled her into his arms as he sat up. She wrapped her arms around his neck, enjoying the fact that he was here. She had another dream last night where she saw him being killed by Benji, tortured first though and she could do nothing to save him.

Kurogane inhaled her scent. She always smelled like herbs, soft green ones that he knew she used to make her daily medicine. He had a dream last night that he would wake up and find her lying dead next to him. It scared him. She pulled back.

"There's breakfast on the counter for you," She whispered and stood up. He got to his feet and put his hands on her waist.

"Did you take your medicine?" He asked. She thought for a moment and then shook her head. He moved by the fire where he left the bag the night before. It wasn't there anymore.

"Someone moved your bag," He whispered and looked back to her. She thought about it for a moment, not comprehending that she needed her medicine right now.

"Raguna wouldn't move it," She finally said and turned to the door. She knew Mokona wouldn't take it.

"Where are you going?" He asked as she stepped into the chilled air. He ran over to her. She had no shoes on and he knew that dress of hers was very thin.

"Raguna!" She called loudly through cupped hand. The man looked from where he was watering the fields in the far back corner and gave a wave that he could hear her. "Where's Marina?" She asked. Raguna face fell and he looked over toward the river.

"Most people would think it's too early to be shouting," Marina said distastefully as Nakietra turned to look at her. Kurogane came over and stood protectively behind Nakietra. Marina's kimono flowed around her bare feet as she walked down the dirt path. Today she was wearing a shimmery grey one with silver storms printed in coils over the fabric. One of her arms cradled Mokona like a baby while the other was busy clasped a smoky looking glass ball.

"Catch," Marina said and smiled as she threw the ball. Nakietra easily caught it and then stared into it. She handed it to Kurogane and then stared at Marina still.

"What is it?" She asked.

"It's an encased storm. I've enchanted it so it will only break around your prince. The only thing you need to make sure of is that you actually hit him with it. The storm is made to soak into his body and then destroy it from the inside. If it hits the ground, your home will be destroyed from the inside and you will defiantly be killed on the spot," Marina said in a tone that moved with the wind. Nakietra looked up at her sharply.

"Anything else I need to know?" She asked. Marina smiled still while Nakietra frowned. There was always an added horror when it came to whatever Marina wanted.

"You will go directly to your home after you leave here. I've made sure of that. You just need to keep your side of the bargain, and trust me, I plan to get my full use out of you," She said and smiled devilishly. She outstretched her empty hand and flicked a finger toward her. The glass ball ripped itself from Kurogane's grasp and back into Marina's.

"First though, we must write your contract before you have a chance to screw me," She stated as her smile grew. Nakietra looked a little pale and her hands shook a little from where she was hiding them behind her back. Kurogane put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Let's get it over with," She said strongly.

"Brave girl…Come then, we have to go somewhere where no one will hear your scream," Marina said and walked across the path to the opposite side of the house where there was a little bridge that went over the river. Nakietra took a step forward, but Kurogane stopped her.

"What is she going to do to you?" He hushed. She looked to him, her eyes betraying the brave look across her face. She was scared, very scared.

"She'll engrave a pattern into my hand which will mark me with our deal. It's very painful I've heard," Nakietra stated. After a moment, Kurogane gave her a long kiss and let her go when Marina started shouting for her to hurry.

"Come back safely," He said. Nakietra nodded her head and ran to catch up.

Kurogane didn't continue Nakietra's work of waking everyone up. He ate his food and then went right to helping Raguna with his work. They talked while they were alone. Raguna didn't only know about the world it seemed. He knew more about Nakietra than any other person they'd met so far. He also knew Hiro. He had no problems talking about him.

He knew Hiro was dead already. Marina told him. That's where Kurogane learned how much Marina enjoyed watching people wither in pain, especially emotional pain. Their talked stopped as the other's started waking up and coming out after their breakfast.

Kurogane was the one that told them what was going on and where Nakietra was at the moment. Raguna then shared what Marina told him last night about the feather. Marina had hidden the feather in a nearby ruin a few miles outside of town. She said that when they had it, they could keep it.

Fai was the one who asked the right question to make everyone uneasy. None of them except for Kurogane knew the full extent of Nakietra's deal with Marina. They knew Nakietra was not one to take orders, and becoming a servant was even worse than that. They knew there was no better choice though after seeing The Prince in action.

Raguna stopped the questions with work then. He told them what happens when the work isn't done for Marina. It's different each time. Sometimes she plays on what she knows will hurt you emotionally, sometimes she hurts you physically, once she destroyed Raguna's field. They stared right away then. Kurogane kept working on the field with Syaoran. Fai worked inside on the new cooking that had to be done, and Raguna took Sakura to get the feather. Nero helped out where he could.

By mid-day, Sakura was sleeping by the fire inside and Raguna was doing the fishing. Work was slowly finished then. Fai took longer than Nakietra, but he did it almost as good as she did. Raguna was amazed how fast the work went. The field was completely clear for once and the crops tended, the fishing was soon finished with the girl, Cinnamon's help, and the cooking was also done as well. Raguna was so happy, he took Syaoran away to help him in town and asked Fai to make a wonderful dinner.

Raguna took his time with Syaoran. He learned a lot about the boy and also a lot about the parts of Nakietra he never needed to know. He smiled at the fact that she was a teacher and that she was actually good. He loved hearing about her climbing and how she would save Syaoran, and also loved about how she still wrote in that same leather book. Syaoran asked what was in it. Raguna wouldn't tell him.

Then they met Kross, the only person Syaoran didn't immediately like as much. Syaoran found the way the man talked as poetic and sad. It almost made him cry to hear the man sound so mournful. Raguna finished his business with the man (paying him to construct a monster hut near his house) and then they moved onto home. Syaoran asked Raguna about the man, but Raguna was just as stumped about him as Syaoran was.

The sun had set and Nakietra was still not back yet though. Everyone sat in front of the fire; waiting. Raguna managed to distract them, but only for short periods of time it seemed. He knew Marina liked to take her time with people she hated. He knew she would take especially long with Nakietra.

Marina was loud and showy with her entrance then. She always was at least. She didn't smile as she walked into the middle of the room. She smirked as everyone scrambled away from her. Nakietra stumbled through the door after her. She clutched the door jam and Raguna just caught her as she was about to fall.

"Don't move," Marina commanded. No one did. Raguna glared at her and then closed the door before gently putting Nakietra on the ground. Raguna took off his gloves and touched her. Her clothes were dripping wet and her skin was like ice. His face got hard. He's never seen her this bad before, and he's seen her collapse into a pool of her own blood that she coughed up because Marina took her medicine and all her herbs to make it.

Marina dropped Mokona in Sakura's lap like a ball of dough and then turned to the right of the fireplace and into the small space of clear wall that was there. The wall shimmered but turned solid again once she was gone.

Kurogane rushed to Nakietra and put a hand to her face. "Are you alright?" Raguna asked. He could see her left hand was covered in diamond looking lines that were jagged and pale like scars. She nodded her head yes very slowly. He ran a finger over her hand. It was smooth. Marina made sure it was as slow and as painful as possible he could tell from how messy the mark was.

"What happened?" Kurogane asked and took her right hand very carefully. She stared at it with dull eyes. Raguna pulled back. He needed to go into town and see if he could borrow some clothes for her. He knew how Mokona worked and knew Marina made sure he would be unconscious for this because she hates Nakietra.

"She took me to the lake…gave me the mark…and then we came here," She stuttered through. He rubbed his fingers over the scars. They were slightly sunken in her could just barely feel. These were very deep wounds.

"They're scars," He stated. She nodded her head slowly and closed her eyes. It was like a chore for her to breath.

"My hand was covered in blood before she healed it," She said absently, "I have to tell you…"

"We already know about the deal," Syaoran told her as he took a seat on the ground on her right. Kurogane let her hand drop and took a space a little bit away from her on her left. Nakietra looked started off into space past everyone with a final wonder if he hated her now because of her decision.

"…The next world will be my home….you need to call me Mariah…there," She said and squeezed her eyes shut like she was in sudden pain.

"Why?" Fai was the first to ask. She breathed three slow breaths.

"I can never return home after I start serving Marina…Its better if they keep thinking I'm already dead," She said painfully.

"That's not fair," Sakura stated first in a quiet voice.

"That's Marina…Nothing with her is fair," Raguna jumped in with a very serious voice.

"It's true…What will you call me from now on?" She tested. Everyone answered Mariah. Nakietra nodded her head in satisfaction. "Nero will run off once we arrive. No one can see him in the city…it's not allowed. Remember, you can't know a dead person," She explained shakily.

"What do we say when they ask us where we're from and why we're here?" Fai asked strategically.

"We came to kill The Prince…say you're from a different world. They'll believe us," She answers.

"Will you be able to ignore everyone you know though?" Kurogane asked. She hesitated and opened her eyes to stare at him. She was drowning in her own depression.

"I'm going to lie," She stated and slightly shook her head no, "I will be one who knows…their culture and traditions."

"You'll get caught if you slip up," Kurogane stated to her. She nodded her head slowly.

"I know…I can't pretend to not understand….anything they do though. It would be worse if I… played ignorant…and was caught because of my knowledge," She responded and closed her eyes.

"We understand," Fai said softly, "Mariah."

"We should leave…now," She said hurriedly as her eyes snapped open.

"Not so fast," Marina said from beside the bed. She slowly walked up, playing with the storm encased glass ball.

**Nakietra**

I stare at her. I knew she would try this, but I can't believe it took her so long. I wanted to leave before this even if it meant leaving the ball. Actually, if she doesn't give it to us now, then she breaks her side of the deal and I have control over her rather than the other way around.

"Power, wealth, eternal youth…I can give you anything you want, and eventually you could eve give it to yourselves. All you need to do is become my apprentice," She started.

"It's all a lie," I said loudly so they all can hear me. Marina scowls at me and then continues talking.

"You don't know what you're talking about," She snapped nastily at me. She looked down on Syaoran with a smile. "Already you have a little wisdom beyond your years and a very strong will to do what's right," She put a hand on his cheek and leaned close to him. He was already getting ensnared in her trap, "Your potential for magic is so great, you might be able to surpass me with training, and your ability to learn is just as incredible. You could have it all: strength, looks, wisdom, knowledge, and powers beyond anyone's dreams. You could be a god, no. A god amongst us gods even. You could be with the one person you've wanted for all eternity. You could bring back your father. Happiness and power, the true desires of the human soul, would be in your control."

"Don't," I tell him very loudly and watch him, "She's lying. When you become her apprentice, you can never love or have a family." I need to stop him. Marina scowls at me with a glint of fire in her eyes. Good, I hope they all understand that this decision will destroy their lives.

"How would you know?" She asks. I glare at her.

"Hiro told me," I say, staring into her deadly eyes. Syaoran looks back at me and I shake my head at him.

"I won't do it," Syaoran tells her. Marina glares down at him and moves on to Fai. I'm glad he said no.

"No thanks for me either," He said right away before she could even speak. I could hear the smile in his voice. Marina still tries.

"You haven't even heard what I could offer you in particular. You think that you can never use magic again because the witch took away your security, but you're wrong. It's all a matter of control and I can teach you that control with practice. You could surpass, you could surpass Asura and the Dimensional Witch, and maybe even Clow Reed in a few hundred years. Your ability for destructive magic is much more than the boys, but it could be better if you could hide your emotions to yourself instead of just from the world. Do you still say no after hearing all this?" Marina charmed. Fai thought seriously about it now. I open my mouth to stop him but then I stop myself. He hates me for letting his family het hurt, for lying to everyone. I purse my lips. He can hate me, but I won't let him destroy his life.

"Fai, don't do it. She'll corrupt you in all ways. You will your emotions, your humanity even," I hush to him.

"Be quiet," Marina says annoyed. She raises her hand without a glance to me and makes a twisting motion. Pain grips my lungs and I can't breathe. I grasp my chest and pressed back against the door.

"What are you doing to her?" Kurogane asks quickly, drawing his sword. The pain intensifies and I close my eyes. I can't breathe at all now. It's too much. Blood wells up in my mouth and spills onto the floor. It burns worse than any other time. There's so much more blood though. Tears stream down my eyes. I don't want to die. Not here, not yet.

"Marina, stop it!" Raguna yells. The pain lasts longer. Then…its gone. My body goes limp and I gasp for air. I can't breathe. There's too much blood. I need help. I need someone to help me.

"She needed to learn a lesson," Marina says monotone. I open my eyes and watch as Kurogane's and Syaoran's swords spin in a circle around her as she walks toward me. Their fists were both bloody. I never told them about the force field that surrounds her. I should have. Raguna grabs Sakura by the shoulders and pulls her away. We both know none of us can do anything at this point.

She stops in front of me and picks me up by the edge of my dress. My whole body is screaming in pain and blood is still dripping down the edges of my mouth. "You will remember that I hold your life in my hands at all times now. YOU are mine. When I tell you to be quiet, you're quiet. If I tell you to kill, you kill. Got it?" She asks. I can't even manage a nod. Satisfied, she drops me like garbage and walks away. I need my medicine before I slip into unconsciousness. I pry my eyes open, but already my sight is already blurring. I just have to stay awake. If I fall unconscious I'll never wake up again.

Voices and faces blur together. I can barely hear what anyone is saying. Then I felt it, like icy fire, the medicine was injected into my arm. I should be fine now.

I feel the change minute by minute. First my head clears a little bit and I can focus a little more on breathing. My eyesight returns soon my hearing. I open my eyes and looked at everyone's worried faces as they looked down a time. The pain is gone. I close my eyes. I can't stand pity. I push myself up with Raguna helping me. I'm stiff and weak now.

"Should you be getting up?" Syaoran asks worriedly. I grip Raguna's shirt with my hands and start heading to the sink. I don't look at any of them.

"Yes," I respond weakly. I need to sleep, but I need to keep myself up because I don't want to spend another night here. I turn on the sink and wash the blood from my face and chin. Raguna pulls away and watches my group behind me. I don't think any of them are going to come closer to me right now.

"What was that stuff you used Raguna?" Syaoran asks then.

"It's just a stronger version of her medicine. You should only use it in emergencies though because it can kill her," He responds. "You have some of that stuff right?" He whispers sideways to me.

"Yeah," I answer and nod my head. I think it's somewhere in my herb bag if I remember correctly.

"Does anyone know where it is other than you?" He asks in the same quiet voice. I close my eyes.

"Yes," I answer hesitantly. He doesn't ask. There's a reason Fai didn't save me. It's easier to play ignorant than know your family is going to die in the next world because of me.

"You're going to need to change first if you plan on leaving tonight," He says.

"I know. Mokona?" I call. He was asleep in Sakura's arms last time I checked. Marina said she had taken control of him so that he would take us to Xion in the first place and then again to come here. After we arrive at my home, he'll be back to his normal self and our destinations will be random once again. I turn around and see him slowly open his eyes. I didn't ask her if she meant to bring us to Benji also.

"Give me my red dress," I say. If I'm going home, I need to wear something that won't be recognized. Sleepily, Mokona yawns and produces the dress from his limitless storage. "And both of my bags," I add and those were produced also. Mokona settled back down into sleep. I put the dress on the counter behind me and bent down next to my bags.

I started with my every day one. I dug out some clean clothes to go under my dress as well as my long shawl that I used to use to hide my face. I've been using it to protect the corners of my drawing book recently. I gathered up the clothes and the dress and went into the corner. Raguna carefully makes all the men, including himself, turn to face the opposite direction without me telling him to.

It's been awhile since I've changed these clothes and washed them I noticed as I peeled them off. There was old blood smeared on them from wounds I don't really remember having. I would have liked a shower, but I settled for the sink and a rag to clean away any blood I found on my skin. Meanwhile, Raguna explained to the group when the highly concentrated medicine should be used. I tug on the loose dress.

It has long, thin, sleeves and stops just above my feet. I believe this is the biggest dress I own. I squirm around in the fabric, wondering why I bought it in the first place and also where. I drape the shawl over my shoulders and maneuver it to shadow my face as well as hide my face. The shawl was made of two different fabrics; the bottom part was stretchy and made to form to whatever you wanted it to, while the upper fabric was sturdy and stiff that casts dark shadows in the sun. All anyone will see is my smile and few people have ever seen me smile in general. I gather up my clothes and throw them in my bag. I'll have to clean them at some point. I look through my other bag and make sure I have enough medicine made. I do.

"Let's leave," I say and stand up. I see the storm ball clutched in Kurogane's hand and frown sadly. I want to talk to him, but not here. Not in this house and not around the others. He has his sword back I see.

"Let's go then," Mokona says weakly. I grimace. Sakura looks worried about him and so am I. I know its Marina's control that has him out of sorts right now, but I still think it hurts him with the soft landings.

"He'll be fine once we get to the next world," I tell her softly. Mokona takes a deep breath and soon we are all moving into the circle. Raguna takes a step forward and tossed me a metal looking ball. I catch it and looked at him confused.

"Marina will talk to you through it once you start your work," He says with a sad smile. I grip it in my hand and look up at him.

"Goodbye," I say with a small wave because I have nothing else to say to him. Then we were gone once again. I'm officially a prisoner now.


	25. A Home That Is Not Home

**Nakietra**

I turn my head down as we arrive. I hear Nero run away down a nearby ally. No one is ever on the streets at this time. The sun is close to being completely down and there are still women at the fountain clean clothes.

I swallow hard. This is the town's center. All the buildings around here belong to shops and there's also one that belongs to my uncle. Everything in this town was built in circles around the fountain. I always loved it.

I see old men get up from their places under the few shady trees between buildings. They must be down in the fields today. Others are gathering too I notice. They're all keeping their distance from us. I take a deep breath and dig my fingers into my hand. They're scared, but so are me. My people have always been unpredictable when they're scared. It all depends on what my uncle has told them seeing as how he's the "leader" of our people.

I look up more so to see beyond the fountain. My heart stops. There are bodies; four of them hug by the neck from a wooden stage. That wasn't there when I left. All their faces are covered but I can see one is a child, another a woman and the other two are men. None of them are Toya or Ira. The child could have been one of my cousins for all I knew.

"You come from another world we see, but why? Why here?" My uncle says. The crowd parts and lets him through to face us directly. My uncle Vece, my father's older and only brother. He's harsh but he's always right to the extent of what he knows. His face is as shallow as I remember as a child, but his body is much thinner. I remember him being a huge, great man like my father. He still looks strong but everything has taken its toll on him. He was a bit taller than Kurogane ad he still made me clench in fear. He never liked me at all even before I killed his daughter.

"We have come to save you," I say loudly, pitching my voice a few octaves higher. He stares down and examines me. I kept my face trained on the ground but I know he would never stoop to my level.

"Tell us, who are you then?" He asks me.

"I am called Mariah. I come from our home Devine with willing help," I respond. There are gasps and stares then.

"Do you have proof?" He asks. My insides turn cold, what could be used as proof?

"I do not understand how to convince you. I have nothing more than any of you do," I say and gesture to the people around me. To the right I see my four cousins, all boys. They're all alive, but I should have known my uncle would die before he let another of his children die.

The oldest two are a few years younger than me and are twins. I remember playing with them when they were younger. The younger two are barely old enough to be in the fields and their mother has her arms clasped around them. She's staring at me with suspicion. I killed her only daughter; she should be suspicious of me. Vece nodded his head and looked me over once more.

"I will accept you for now then. Who are these others? None are of our race," He says suspiciously while others whisper around him.

"They are our allies from all over. We have come to make sure this world doesn't burn out, to show you that in your time of need you are not forgotten," I say. He examined every one of us now. I can't screw up now.

"You ally with white men I see," He states and stares at me. I open my mouth to explain.

"Soldiers!" People scream from closer to the palace, "The King! He's coming!" More yell. The circle breaks as people push and shove to get into their homes. Vece looks around and grabs me roughly.

"We will hide you," He says and drags me to his family. My free hand takes Sakura's and holds her so she doesn't get lost with the crowd. His wife, Karis, has already ushered the boys inside. She looks at her husband. "Ka, have to hide them," He tells her and pushed me forward. I stumble into the house with Sakura and the others right behind me. She pulls us inside and carefully shuts the door after Fai.

"What's going on?" Syaoran whispers to me.

"Benji is coming," I whisper after Karis darts up the slanted stairs. Their house was defiantly the biggest of all the ones in this poor district, but it's still cramped. Cushions litter the small room to the left. It was a sitting area with a chipped piece of wood put in the middle to act as a table. To the right is a kitchen that could fit maybe three people at the most at a time and had all sorts of herbs, pans, and utensils hanging from the ceiling. Up the stairs were four bedrooms I remember: one for my uncle and aunt, another for the boys, one for my grandmother, and another for any of the grieving or hiding. Toya used that room once.

"Let's fight then," Kurogane suggests and puts a hand on his sword. I grab his hand and stop him.

"We can't. There's too many people that could hurt or in the way. We have to get him while he's in the palace, where it's deserted," I hush. He relaxes. I turn forward as Karis comes back.

"Come," She commands and runs back up the stairs. I race after her to the guest room. It was bare of furniture with one curtained window that would let us look out into the courtyard and cracked walls and ceiling. She stayed in the hall and waited for us to file in. "Keep the window curtained, be quiet, and stay in here," She says and closes the door. I hear her rush down the stairs out the door. Everyone takes a silent seat on the ground. I kneel by the window and looked carefully out as it quiet downs outside.

"What are you doing?" Syaoran hushes nervously over my shoulder. I look to him and realize he's just as scared of the prince as I am. I look back out. I can't answer him.

My stomach turns sour as I see Benji. He's wearing his father's robe, the kingly robe. He turns and faces my uncle. Underneath the robe I see his tough armor. The hammer weighs nothing to him is seems and he smiles like he's in the happiest place he can be. Only the men are left outside and only the ones by my uncle look brave. I wish I was brave.

"What's going on out there?" Kurogane whispers.

"He's surveying his kingdom," I whisper back. I'm only watching him and I feel scared.

He bends over Vece and says something. Benji is even taller than my uncle now. Vece responds back just as quietly. Benji cocks his head to the side and raises his hammer. I see fear in Karis's eyes from where she is by the fountain, but the hammer doesn't come down. He just turns and walks away with the hammer across his shoulders like an axe.

I follow him down the streets. He points out four people. White guards dash out and grab them, dragging them down the streets to the palace. No one tries to help them. I'm sickened by them. I sit against the wall next to the window and draw up my knees. Is this what my people have come to? I'm ashamed of them, but mostly I'm ashamed of my uncle who's selling out our people to save his own family.

I clench my teeth. I remember times where my people killed guards who tried to take away innocent people. We helped each other out. It didn't matter if they were blood family or even friends. We never let the white men take out people away. Now our people are selling out their own. There are no tears from the women whose husbands were taken away. There were no men fighting to save their family. I feel disgusted to be a part of these people.

"What did you see?" Fai asks close by. I look up to him. I unclench my teeth enough to talk.

"He took people away and no one fought back. Husbands and wives even pushed their spouses toward him when they were picked. It's…it's disgusting," I whisper, "Everyone used to family here, but now everyone seems to think everyone an enemy." There are sounds of people coming upstairs. I turn my head down and we are silent. The door opens and I can see Karis and Vece entered. Behind them stumbles my grandmamma, led by the oldest son, Bent. He settles her on the ground inside the room and leaves, closing the door behind him. My uncle and aunt take seats on either side of her and examine us. This is adult talk I can tell. I stare at my grandmamma.

She looks even worse than before. Her skin is covered in millions of wrinkles still and her eyes are staring at the ground. She must be completely blind now. Her fingers don't move at all and are slightly curled. Her hands don't work that well either anymore. Her clothes are worn and thin, ready to be recycled as soon as she was dead. She looks up at me then. She can't see physically but she could always see spiritually I remember. Her hearing is amazing also. She always hears things that she shouldn't be able to hear at her age.

"Tell us your names, and we will say ours," Vece says. I don't look to him.

"I am Mariah," I start and the rest follow. Vece slowly nods his head at each of us. People did that a lot in my family.

"I am Vece, the leader here. This is my wife Karis, and my mother Dera," He introduced then. It was common here for men to introduce "their" women.

"Tell us how this happened," I say even though I know exactly how it did. He stares right at me and I stare back.

"One day, our only prince came out of the palace with the white guards. He told us some nonsense about my nephew and niece killing our king. I already had nothing to do with them so I was able to spare my family some pain," He starts.

"Why didn't you believe him?" Syaoran asks before he can continue. Vece looks to him now. I look at the ground.

"My nephew was a respected soldier and truly one of us. He bought the poor clothes and food for the hungry with whatever money he had after caring for his sister. The king treated him well just as he did. Our King took only what was necessary for himself and the white families he supported in the next town over. He gave my nephew whatever he wanted and he always asked for things for our people. After my brother passed away, my nephew's father, our King became like a second father to the boy I believe. He wouldn't have killed him, and his sister wouldn't have been able to help. She was sickly. She could barely function as it was," He tells. I see my aunt's face scrunch up in hate for a moment at the mention of first met while my grandmamma's face turns to the ceiling. She's praying for the dead. I dug my fingers into my hand. I was never that sick, Hiro and Toya just liked to do everything themselves when I was around. Also, my aunt has to recheck her values in life. No matter what, we were not to hate the dead no matter what they did when they were alive.

"What did your prince say?" Kurogane asks smoothly. Vece took his mother's hand to stop her praying. She could barely hold his.

"It doesn't matter. We know what happened. Everyone in the palace was killed by the prince and hung over the walls as an example. He told us recently, but we already knew," He starts and pauses, "He hung Hiro's corpse from that ugly beam he made us built. We couldn't recognize him. Hiro was my nephew." His voice softened near the end. Tears well up in my eyes. The lightning had gone straight through his heart and left the rest of the body intact. Benjamin had gone back afterwards and then…My fingers dig in more, now for at my anger at Him. My peoples' corpses were hung out for display, while my brother was called a murderer. Even if no one believed it, it was insult to my family.

"Why didn't you rise up against him?" Fai asks.

"With what?" Vece almost laughs, "We don't have armor or weapons of any kind. He kills four people every time he comes to us and hangs them out just like he did Hiro. He calls them his playthings," He says disgusted. Without a means to do so, they can't even think of trying. They were waiting for a savior I realize. They didn't even know I was coming in the first place though.

"What about your niece?" Kurogane asks. I glance toward him. He looks curious and strong, but he avoids my eyes. It feels weird to hear myself being talked about as if I wasn't there. It must be weirder for him to talk about me but also must pretend not to know me.

"He won't give us her body. We know she's dead, and yet he won't let us burn her," Vece says, not showing any distress or anger towards the face. My aunt is unaffected and looks like she wants to get away from the topic of me. My grandmamma stares at me though. Her lips twitch into a smile and then it's gone. She's knows it's me that's here.

"What happened after that?" I ask.

"The prince made himself king. He took everything he wanted away from us just to see us suffer. Food is scarcer than ever and more and more of us disappear into the castle every day. I suspect he's taking more than what I've seen. No one can run away because his guards keep track," My uncle says. I believed every word.

"We have to stop him tonight then," I say. My uncle shakes his head and looks at me suspiciously.

"Do you know what day is today?" He asks.

"I don't know what any day is. We have traveled greatly to get here, and the days have become blurred as well as changed as we've moved from world to world," I say. It's true though.

"Tonight is first of The Dead Days," He states. My eyes widen and a lump forms in my throat. I can't handle being home during this…it's too much.

"What are The Dead Days?" Kurogane asks me.

"It's a celebration for our ancestors. The first day is one of celebration and happiness as the spirits join us. There is usually dancing, food, and music away from the shrines. The second day is of memory, where everyone gathers around the shrines and remembers their ancestors with songs and stories. The third is a day of reflection on how we might live our lives fuller. Many people will sit alone outside or in a separate room in their homes in order to think. The day ends with a simple meal that everyone contributes to," I explain quickly.

"Very good. We have a dance hall that the other families are preparing now. It's a shed we use during harvest in the east. My wife is supposed to be helping prepare the food now with the other women. I must help gather firewood as well with my sons," He says and rises. He helps his wife up and then his mother.

"We would be happy to help you with anything else," I say. He turns to me and looks us over once more.

"The men can come with me and the women will go with my wife then," He says plainly before leading my grandmother out.

**Nakietra**

Everything about this party is so painstakingly familiar. Nothing ever changes around here when it comes to The Dead Days. It's a time of tradition. Old recipe dishes are scattered around the room on tables with wooden plates around them. I know these dishes and I know my grandmamma knew these dishes and made them when she was a child just like me.

I press my back more so against my dark section of wall. It's breaking my heart to be here. The shed is filled with people. Everyone is dancing to old tunes played on guitars, flutes, horns, drums, and other string instruments that don't have names anymore. I know that there are other parties going on in the other sheds both over here and farther out in the field, but this is where my family always went.

Nero's thoughts were happy and wild now. His people celebrated The Dead Days as well, but with hunting and stories though every night. They had spars between the wolves and tournaments among the young. I smile sadly to myself. I'm glad he's happy to be home with his pack.

I have missed my home too…I sacrificed everything to save it, my freedom even, and for what? Everyone acts like an enemy to each other when the prince comes by, everyone thinks I'm dead but still they disrespect my name, and even if come out of all this alive….I'm just Marina's slave in the end.

I close my eyes. Objects of the dead (sketches, photographs, colored drawings, name plates in metal) cover the front and back walls with shelled candles surrounding them so all could see. I don't want to look at any of them. I don't want to know who else has died while I was gone. I don't want to learn if Toya was among them.

I grip my elbows. I feel so very alone. Why did I want to ever come back here? No one but Toya and Hiro have ever wanted me here. I was considered too sickly to do any work and too strange for anyone to want. I open my eyes and follow Sakura as she dances with Syaoran. She looks to happy. Fai is surrounded by a group of young girls who are flirting with him while Kurogane. I can't bring myself to smile even though they're all happy.

I looked out at the happy, dancing faces and tried to convince myself that this is what I've been fighting for. No, I was fighting for the people who saved their families if it meant their own deaths. MY fingers dig into my elbows. These aren't my people. Someone touches my shoulder and I flinch away. I look over.

The person wraps his hand around my shoulder. He's wearing a dark blue cloak with a hood shadowing his face. I look at the hand. Nubbly burn scars cover half his hand. I breathe out and stare up at him. I recognize that cloak; grandmamma helped me make it for his birthday. He holds a finger to his lips and pulls me away to the door. I follow him as we slip out.

He looks around outside and then pulls me toward the wild lands at a jogging pace. I keep up as much as I can until we make our climb up the hill to our tree. I look at the tree with its weeping branches and leaves making a secret area for us. I shudder from the cold as we slip through the leaves. Toya crushes me against him and I can't help but curl my fingers in his clothes. This is what I was fighting for. He pulls back and pushes down his hood.

He looks the same as before. I His pointy chin, his tanned skin, coal eyes, lose black hair, and a hidden sadness that only I can see it seems. I want to say his name and pull back my hood too, but I'm not sure if this is a trap or now.

"Is it really you Nakietra?" He asks trying to look under my hood without moving it. I feel my throat close up as I nod my head.

"How?" I manage and pull back my hood. He smiles.

"Your grandmother. She said…you could use a friend," He says and takes my marked hand in his unburned one. I squeezed his hand and smile up at him.

"I thought she knew…does anyone else know?" I ask.

"No," he answers and shakes his head.

"Good. I want to keep it that way," I say and take a seat on the ground. It's cold and smooth here like it's always been. I run my hands over the roots and then the stone. This place used to be part of the ruins farther away. It's the only part still showing though.

"What's your plan?" Toya asks. I turn my attention back to him. He takes a seat next to me and stares at me seriously.

"So far we are planning to just charge in when The Dead Days are done," I answer. None of us have really discussed it yet, but that was the general idea so far. Toya stares at me.

"Everything will work out in the end basically?" He asks. I smile slightly and nod my head.

"That's the idea," I confirm. That was always Hiro's way of thinking. There was always a goal and we had to make it there some way. Planning was meaningless to him. Toya shakes his head and looks to the ground with a small smile.

"Predictable," He says.

"My group hasn't discussed it yet. We've been too busy hiding from Benji and preparing for the party," I tell him. He wasn't smiling anymore.

"The sooner you take him out the better," He states roughly. I nod my head in agreement. "Have you thought about what will happen once you take him out?" He asks.

"You take over as king and make things fair again for our people," I say easily. I've often pictured Toya as a king, mostly because he acted like one sometimes. He was a born leader, just like Hiro. Toya shakes his head at me.

"No. Vece should be king," He responds. I shake my head.

"My uncle isn't smart enough for that. He's cautious, strong willed, and determined but he's not smart enough to make sure it's fair for everyone. I don't want to see the white people turned into slaves like we were," I tell him. The cycle will never break otherwise.

"Tell that to him," He mumbles. I raise an eyebrow.

"He said he wants to be king?" I ask, thinking that was very unlike him.

"No, he says he wants me to be king and he could be an advisor," He responds with a sigh.

"You would make a good king," I say and smile. He slowly nodded his head in agreement.

"I know, I just don't want to do it," he says. I rolled my eyes.

"What do you want to do then?" I ask. He thinks about it.

"I want…to throw you in the river," He says and darts toward me with a smile on his face. I crawl backwards away from him and then scramble to my feet to run.

"No you aren't!" I say loudly and run down the hill. Toya follows but lets me get away. I stop and smile back at him.

"I give up. You are too fast for me, Black Rabbit," He mocks and bows. I stroll back over and the two of us sit back against the hill. I'm finally able to see the familiar stars again. Each clump has an old story to go with is all the way from Devine.

"I was serious though," I tell him, not letting the topic get away after a little Fox and Rabbit.

"I was too," He answers. I turn my head toward him.

"I want to go back to when things were good and life was easier for everyone," He says. My heart swells with pain.

"Me too," I says quietly and look to the sky.

"I wish I could be doctor like my father, but I know I can't ever do the things he could do," He says. I smile. He always did like helping people.

"Being a king is a different way of healing people you know. We've been neglected and abused over the years by the kings, maybe it's time we have someone who's lived among us step up. Our King was good to us before, but life was still hard because he didn't know how hard it was to live. Right now, the people need someone who will treat them more than fairly, and will take some power from the other white people to balance the sides out," I explain, not even understanding where this sudden wisdom was coming from.

"You're right…if they ask me to be king, I should take it with happiness," he says.

"And pride. You'll be the first king that the people choose," I say with a smile. I pick out my favorite cluster of stars: the phoenix. It's a bird who is said to suffer when it first lives, but then after time it bursts into fire and is reborn into a glorious life of happiness and comfort. When I was little, I used to wonder if my sickness would be cured if I lived a good life with the little I had. It wasn't until I was older than I learned what really made my disease a killer.

"That's true," he mutters as he too looked into the sky. Every little cluster tells a different story, and soon I feel like crying. Hiro taught me every story and made sure I knew them all by heart. Now he's gone forever.

"I should get back. My group might worry about me," I say and sit up. Toya gets to his feet and helps me up.

"Tell me what's wrong," He says as we slowly walked back to the party.

"This isn't home to me," I say and close my eyes. Flashes of my true home flash behind my eyes. When I opened them again, I come back to this broken version of it.

"What do you mean?" He asks.

"There's no family here anymore. These people throw their families at Benji without any emotion. These can't be my people," I respond, my voice very close to cracking.

"I know what you mean," He says, surprising me. I nod my head.

"Anything else?" He asks as we approach the shed again. Dim light spills out of the windows and the music is still going forth with erratic energy.

"Did…" I start but tears well up in my eyes. I look to the ground as they blur my vision. "Could you…could you tell it was Hiro when they hung him up?" I ask, my voice cracking all over the place. I need to know what Benji did to him. I need to know how he desecrated my brother.

"Yes," He responds. I hugged my arms to my body while one hand searches for my long since gone necklace. More tears pushes forward and I settled for digging my nails into my elbows. Toya takes a step forward and put a tight arm around me. I tried to keep my sobs and tears bottled up, but they kept breaking through every time I tried to shut the lid on them. I hear the door open, but don't look to see who opened it. Toya pull up my hood and takes his arm away.

"What did you do to her?" Kurogane asks gruffly. He pulls me away from Toya. I need to talk but I can't. All my nightmares about Benji killing Hiro are catching up with me.

"She was…overwhelmed about being here again," Toya says gruffly.

"No," I say in a severely cracked voice and stand between them. Toya took the hint and pulled his hood up. In a minute, he's gone. Kurogane pulls me into his arms and I wrap my arms around him. I calm down a little and he starts to pull me back to the wild lands.

"What happened?" He asks me. I pull my hood down and wipe a tear away from my cheek.

"I miss my brother," I say as more tears come. He finds a different place on the other side of the hill and lowers me to the ground. I curl up against him and lie my head down in his lap.

"It's harder to be home than you thought," He states. I nod my head. "You could probably get out of the celebrating if you really wanted," He suggests and I nod my head no.

"When we leave this world, that's it. This is my last time to be here, the last time to honor my parents and Hiro," I tell him.

"You aren't alone here," He says and leans down to kiss my head. I shivered from the cold and he drapes his cloak over me. He's wearing clothes from my people now but he kept his cloak because it's cold. It always gets cold at night at this time of year. After The Dead Days is harvest season.

"We should go to my uncle's house. It's warm there," I suggest.

"Do you know the way?" He asks. I sit up and keep the cloak wrapped around my shoulders.

"Of course," I say and get to my feet. He fixes to cloak around me and kisses me longer than usual. "We need to tell Vece first," I tell him. He nods his head. We go back to the party and he handles talking to my uncle while I wait outside.

"Who was that man with you before?" He asks after he comes out again.

"Toya…I've known him since…I don't know. I always remember him being there with my brother," I respond. I try to think of my earliest memory of him, but I don't remember how old I was at the time.

"Sakura's brother," He states.

"No," I say sharply, "A different Sakura's brother." I focus on the deserted streets, memories assaulting me from everywhere because of the knife. That was the house where a little boy who liked eggs lived. There's that corner is where I fell and skinned my entire arm when I was racing Hiro once. That slab of craftsman's stone has never moved and I used to hide behind it and draw when it was busy in town.

"Where did you used to live?" He asks, looking at all the houses with me.

"I lived in the palace. There were servant shacks on the edges of the walls where people like us lived," I respond.

"Was it better than living down here?" He asks.

"No," I respond, "The palace was a place for the rich and white. We were treated like dirt or nothing depending on the people. Sometimes we were given table scrapes, but other times we had to buy the food from down here. It wasn't cheap. Whatever the palace didn't take from each harvest was distributed among the people. There was rarely extra for people like us to buy," I explain.

"Why did you live up there?" He asks.

"My father wanted a better life for Hiro. Even if we were treated like dirt, there was a better chance of us learning something, and we did. The King always favored my family since my mother attended to his wife and my father and brother fought in his army. Hiro was like a second son to The King, and treated both of us really good. In turn, we treated our family good too," I say tiredly. He nods his head and takes my hand.

"Did your father teach you how to fight?" He asks. I shake my head

"Hiro taught me everything I know. Papa was always off to war, and then he died one day. I don't remember much about him," I say. It helped that I had multiple sketches of him in my book, along with Sakura, my cousins, my mother, and Hiro. I never can remember what papa looked like without the sketches though.

"He taught you good then," he says and kisses my head. I pull him to the house. The door opens silently and we slip inside.

"Follow me," I whisper and lead him to out room. I remember staying here many times when my brother was home. We took spots by the opposite wall and I try to sleep. I feel so tired.

"How long does that party usually go for?" He asks sleepily.

"Til morning," I respond.

"We have time then," He says and nuzzles my neck. I roll onto my back and he roll with me so he's on top. He starts kissing me everywhere, inching my shawl off while my dress moves up. I didn't see any problem with this, and I guess he didn't either.

We were clothed and separately asleep by the time our group wandered sleepily in. I only know this because they woke me up with their loud footsteps and pushing me around. Also, Syaoran stepped on my hand. I had yelled and woken Kurogane up in the process. We had to wait for them to settle until we attempted sleep again. We slept until early afternoon, which is when Vece busted in and probed us to help set up for the second party.

The set up was easy here. Fires were lite and set up around the shrines. Flowers, candles, more food, and music surrounded the shrine yard then in beautiful arrangements. The shrine yard was the place where stone boxes were placed into the grass. These took the places of headstones and stored the person's closest possessions. As the fires are lite as night comes once more, I keep to the edges near my parents' boxes. This will not end well me, I have a terrible feeling.


	26. Memories

**Nakietra**

I glance around as the stories start. My uncle and his family are near Axial's grave. My aunt is distressed and my cousins are bored I can tell. She died too young for them to have many stories about. I clench my hand around my arm. I killed their daughter so why am I here?

I look at my grandmamma. She's always been so faithful to her husband. She always sits with him first, talking to him and remising old memories with him in our old tongue. The white men had their language and we always had ours to keep us together as a family. I watched her stray away from him and stop at other graves, old ones that no one was near. She was the last of her generation, but she never let them be forgotten. If I could see the names of the people, I would know who they were based on what she's told me throughout the years. This yard of shrines was our favorite stop since neither of us we considered fit to do any work but sewing.

Happy and sad music were played depending on what some people wanted. Stories were told to the younger children, some people laughed while other's cried (mostly at the newer shrines) and food was always passed out to anyone who looked like they needed it.

I looked to where I knew Hiro's was. I made sure to seek his out while we were setting up. I want to honor him properly. No one said that the stories or words for the dead needed to be spoken out loud. You only needed to be close to the shrine. I wish I could touch the stone with his name carved into it and tell him everything. The only thing stopping me was Ira. She hated me. She was a good person, I won't argue or say anything bad about that. Her only flaw was she couldn't stand me. I was too much for her. I took away Hiro's time with her and I always came first. She hinted to me that I should die, once she told me outright. I refused to go see her again from thereon. When she tried to find me, I always disappeared to the ruins where Toya lived.

My feet tapped to the happier tones. I remember playing these on stage. We didn't know many songs, but everyone took turns that could and all of us played the same tune a different way. I always went faster with the one playing now and people would dance with it. Even my grandmamma bounced to the music from her seat and clapped her hands too. She would turn her head and whisper something to my grandpapa's shrine. I never knew him, he died when my father was younger.

My fingers tapped on my legs and I closed my eyes. I could feel the holes under my fingers almost. I missed my flute with its keys and holes. It was old, ancient even. The metal didn't dent or rust and was tinted slightly yellow. I always kept sparkling. The baker's wife has taken it now and keeps tripping over the notes. I ignore them and let myself believe for a moment that this is still my home and that everything that's happened already, never happened.

The night was fully onset. I know because that's when the music stopped. I opened my eyes and looked up at the stage to watch the ceremony. My family was always in charge of it. Vece takes his stance on the edge and old box and reads from our history. It's all written down in there, how we came from our Devine in chains and then came here. Every uprising and useless white man war is recorded in there and the book is only taken out during this day and during Solar Eclipses.

I see Ira and I tune him out. I took away her love. I imagine Kurogane dying and I need to clench my teeth not to start crying. She's showing the baker's wife how to move her fingers more easily and instructing her on this piece. I dig my nails into my elbows. She's playing the flute while Ira will be singing. I was always the one who sang the rites.

I walk out to Hiro's shrine. I see his things have already been put out by Ira. This was to honor him and start the stories. To remember him I guess. I see a drawing of him, that I drew, in the center. It's held down on one corner by his bettered wedding bracelet Ira's family, the opposite corner with his army helmet, his necklace (the twin of mine) and a worthless knife of his. There were a lot of other worthless possessions of his. Vece probably put them in there, thinking they must have been special. I smirk. Hiro wasn't one for nice things like these. His sword is leaning against the stone. I balance on the balls of my feet and run my hand over it. I remember weaving the cords around the scabbard, I remember learning to fight with this sword over and over again. I take my hand away and stand up.

I put a soft hand on his chiseled out name at the top. Everything pours into my mind. I can see our trips to the lake, our eventful homecoming from our journey across the worlds, I can see every time he came home and ever picture he helped me draw. I swallow hard and close my eyes as Ira starts to sing. In my head, I talked to my brother. I won't have time when she's done. Each line is painful and the flute is just as mournful as when Hiro would play it with me.

_**On the other side of time, there is a city of wind**_

_Did you make it to the city Hiro? I hope so. You don't have to wait for me. I'll find my way even if they burry me in the snow. _

_**Come on, Take me with you**_

_I'll be there soon. Tell mamma and papa that I'm coming. Don't wait for me, wait for Ira. She misses you. Can you hear the pain in her voice like I can?_

_**Make the white flower's dream come true**_

I smiled sadly. _I was always your Black Rabbit remember? I guess I could be your white flower too if you wanted, but what fun would that be? Ira was always your flower though. She was always a good person._

_**Take my hand with your sweet fingers**_

_Your fingers were always rough with scrapes and always stiff when you held my hands. You always saved me though, and not just physically. I'm glad you're my brother._

_**Come on, I want to be guided down the long road to your side**_

_Be Ira's guide. I'll die too far away for you. It would be quiet an adventure if you got lost chasing me though. Let's not try it though. I don't think I can handle another adventure after all this._

_**An unending song in the early afternoon**_

_I wish I was the one singing this for you right now I wish I had been there for your burning._ Tears streamed down my face again. _I love you brother…I'm sorry I could save you…_

_**The two awaken and become one**_

_We can't be one, we're too different. I'm fine with being by myself. No matter what, I was always alone in some way because no one could understand my pain. Ira deserves you just as much as you deserve you. You deserve to be happy, unburdened by me._

_**Knowing the meaning of happiness for the first time**_

_Untrue. My few years alive have been better than others. Every moment with you and Toya made my life a little brighter and a little more memorable. Even now with this man named Kurogane. I love him. He knows I'm sick, but he doesn't treat me with pity. He treats me the same as always. That's all I've ever wanted I guess._

_**Take me with you**_

_I'll stay alive as long as I can, because I promised you that much. In the end, don't chose me. You only have one shot. I can be lost forever because of everything I've done. I don't want you to be lost with me. I've never been scared of being lost, you know that._

_**An unending song in the early afternoon**_

_I miss the songs mother used to sing when she made medicine. I remember the tunes still, but not the words. Sometimes I do, but usually not .When I come to the city, I'll have to sit down in front of her so she can reteach me like when I was little._

_**The two awaken and become one**_

_You can show me to swim again and also how to run really fast. I've been getting sloppy since you've been gone. Think about it, in death I won't have to be careful of my health. I'll only have to be happy as long as I make it home._

_**Knowing the meaning of happiness for the first time**_

_Even though I miss you, I don't want to leave this life._ I put a hand over my mouth to stop my sobs. _I found someone who's made me want to stay. I hate that I have to leave him eventually. Your death taught me how painful it is to love someone and then lose them. I don't want him to suffer because of me but I can't let him go._

_**Take me with you**_

_I know I'm already living on borrowed time, but maybe that's a sign that I can beat this. Maybe I can be the first person to beat this because I have this knife. Maybe it wasn't an accident. Maybe Tomoyo was supposed to give it to me so that I could survive._

_**The other side of unseen dreams**_

_Or maybe it's just like all my other childish dreams. There's no cure anymore, and I'm not ready to sell someone else's eternity to Marina just to live. It's bad enough so owns me now. I know it won't continue into my death, but the idea is still sickening._

_**Come. On the two of us can take that long road**_

_Is the journey actually long? I wish you could talk to me and tell me. I wonder who lead you away. Was mamma? I miss her. I met her in another world. They were so alike it hurt._

_**To the city of wind**_

_I bet it is just like all the stories we heard from the book. You'll tell me all about it on though when I get there I bet. Your journey will defiantly be shorter than mine, I can guarantee that. _

I look around. Everyone is crying. I was always crying too. I see my grandmamma even crying for once where she's sitting between my parents' shrines. One of her wrinkled hands is resting on top of each. She always used to say to me my mother was like the daughter she never had. She never explained it to me except through the fact she never liked my aunt. That's why my father got the bracelet to give to my mother instead of my uncle, the older brother.

My aunt is the loudest, just like every year. She loves to show how sad she is about her lost daughter. I never understood it. Everyone here has lost someone. After all these years, does it really matter if you are still grieving this much while other's have lost half their families recently? I see my cousins look away as they shed a few tears. How can they not feel sad when they see their mother acting like that?

My uncle is sitting against my grandpapa's shrine. I look away as I see him start to cry as Ira calms down for the next song. Fai is walking around, examining the older graves. It's not disrespectful, but most people stay still during this part of the night. Syaoran and Sakura move to join my grandmamma while Kurogane comes next to me. He doesn't say anything as he looks at the shrine. He takes my hand as I bow my head to Hiro.

_**Kiss me sweet**_

_**I'm sleeping in silence**_

_**All alone**_

_**In ice and snow**_

_**In my dream**_

_**I'm calling your name**_

This is repeated six times and each time it hurts more.

_Hiro, my heart doesn't feel like its sleeping or it's a block of ice. It feels alive with feelings for the man behind me, and it beats with the pain of knowing that I won't be with him much longer. What do you think of him? He's like in some ways, not exactly though. He acts like you in public, when we aren't alone._

_I sold my soul to Marina to save our home…this place isn't home anymore though. Our people are selling their family out, our own uncle is handing them over to Benji to be killed. I wish I hadn't wasted my soul, but I promised you and that would have still made me do it again knowing what I know now. I wish I hadn't wasted my time trying to be separate from my group. They are my friends now, most of them at least. _

_Do you remember little Sakura? You stopped Toya from killing himself in the fire that she died in. There's a Sakura here with me. She's a princess in another land and she's all grown up. I hate hurting her emotionally with how I am. She's so sensitive and younger than me by three years. Ironically, her Toya is king and our Toya is the to-be king once Benji is dead. I only wish his sister was still here._

I smile to myself.

_This place doesn't feel like home without you. Everyone is cruel to each other and nobody likes me still. I can't believe our aunt. She insults my name. I'm not dead yet, but she doesn't know that. I see why grandmamma never liked her. They insult me every time I ask about myself. There's no shrine for me because there's no body. The insults hurt so much. This place is corrupt. What happened to the teachings that told us insulting the dead was wrong? Useless, sickly, pitiful, special treatment, a bringer of destruction and death. When they talk about you though, I feel pride. They call you courageous, brave, generous, helpful, happy, and strong. They always mention your strength. You were always so much stronger than I could ever be._

_You always used to try to do everything with that strength. When Wizard Kin tried to rule with the hammer, you wanted to go out on your own and leave me behind because the journey would dangerous you said. Even when we traveled, you tried to save everyone that needed it and make them lead a good life. That always made me proud to be your sister. I only wish…that you could be proud of me. I haven't done much in my life. I'm a good fighter, which has saved me many times, but I haven't done much in the way of helping others. I always used to draw when you were helping our people, what good was I? I don't know why I'm surprised at the insults. I wasn't much of anything back then or even now._

_I'm such a burden on my group. I kept getting hurt, or I forget to take my medicine, or I push myself when I know I shouldn't. I keep putting everything on my shoulders just like you did. My shoulders aren't as strong as yours though, and the weight always brings me to my knees. Even though I've opened up to my group and let them help me more, I feel like I'm the one who always brings them down. It will only be easier without me here._

I breathe deeply, my breath broken and choppy with sobs.

_Ira is so sad without you. I wonder what would happen if she knew I was here, disguised as this girl I made up. She blames me for your death, and she should. I did nothing but run and hide and that caused everyone else to die. You always stood up to Benji when he pushed me around or teased me with his dead animals. Maybe that's why he tried to frame you and then killed you when you refused to take the blame. No one here believed the lies that Benji told. They think he killed the king, or that the king died naturally. We know the truth though, I just can't SAY the truth to them. _

_It's funny…no one here thinks I could fight. Benji said you and I killed our King, but they keep telling me that I was always too weak to do anything. It makes me kind of mad, but it more so makes me sad. They respected and loved you so much and then I'm the one who lived in the end. More cruel twists of fate. Like when mother and the queen were killed, or father was killed in battle._

_I'm keeping myself hidden here if you haven't guessed. Grandmamma is completely blind now and can't use her hands very much. She knows it's me though through her sight. She told Toya and he found me. It's nice to know I still have one friend in this place, but it hurts knowing that I have to leave him forever soon with him staying here and knowing I'm still alive and suffering._

_I don't think I'll miss it here after I've seen how heartless our people are. I know no one likes me, except Toya. This place is a broken home compared to the home from when I was little. Ira is still singing, can you hear her? Her voice is beautiful and hurtful at the same time. She really misses you…make sure you wait for her._

"What are you doing?" Ira asks venomously. I keep my head low and pull back my hand. I can't speak with this sorrow. She'll know it's me.

"We're honoring the dead," Kurogane answers for me. I can't look at her.

"Neither of you know any of them, so it doesn't matter. It's insulting," She says with tears in her voice. I see her kneel on the ground and run her hand over the tombstone. I dig my nails into my arm. I need to say something to her.

"He…reminds me…of my brother," I manage with a few cracks. She looks up at me, her gaze a little softer than her voice.

"But he isn't, so leave," She says with a huge crack in her voice. Her eyes are so painful and sad. I take my hand away from Kurogane's and turn to my parents' shrines. My grandmamma was sitting on her stool with Syaoran and Sakura sitting in front of her as she told stories.

"Emika was like the daughter I never had. My sons were always so much like their father that is was always a little lonely for me in our home. I used to be a healer before my hands and eyes died, but Emmy took over long before that. She was a good girl and great healer, even better than me. When her daughter was born, she noticed the sickness right away and treated her. It was amazing, and that is why I think she has lived so long. Eighteen years almost now while our babies still die before five," She tells in a wavery voice. I take a seat next to my mother's shine and lean my shoulder against it. I remember how much I hated that medicine when I was little. She used to have to mix it into a vanilla and cinnamon drink that she made.

"How was your granddaughter sick?" Sakura asks even though she knows the answer.

"We call it The Shutting Light. Babies are born, and then they die within their first year, drowning in their own blood. Death is unavoidable for them, but in my granddaughter's case, it was postponed for almost eighteen years now. She's lived long past her time, maybe because her life was so happy. She was granted so many things that many others didn't have," Grandmamma says sadly. I watch her look up to the sky for a moment and then look at me. I curl up my legs and hide my face.

"What did she have?" Syaoran asks. Kurogane takes a seat next to my father's shrine, but didn't touch it.

"Well, she had a father who died so she would live. She had an excellent mother who healed her right away, who taught her as much as she could to a child. Her brother treated her better than his wife, teaching everything he knew from drawing to riding horses, from climbing to sword fighting. And then she had a friend, one who treated her like nothing was ever wrong with her. Everyone here treated her like trash, useless and unfit for anything. Toya always treated her like a good friend. He played games with her even though he and Hiro were too old for them by that time, and he even would pick her up and throw in the lake I hear from the kids she used to watch. She had a good life, filled with friends and family who really loved her. She still does I see. Friends who worry for her and make sure she isn't alone anymore," She says as a few tears stream from her eyes. I cry too. I knew I was lucky to have Hiro and Toya in my life. I was lucky mother and brother taught me what I needed to know, but it never stuck I guess.

"Toya?" Sakura asks breathlessly.

"Yes, he was a rich, foreign boy. The King called his father in to help Tia, his sickly wife," Grandmamma says and smiles, "he mostly took care of my granddaughter though, which The King approved of. Emika was always much more helpful to his wife than the doctor. I don't think the man ever did anything for her or Nakia, but he at least tried to understand what was happening to her and tried to fix it." She says with a sad smile. I sigh and relish hearing my name pronounced like it should be; Na-e-a. I missed hearing my name like it should be said. I always say it the wrong way for people to actually say it and not mess it up.

Vece approaches and I look up. He takes a stance in front of my father's grave. He looks remorseful for once. He picks up a band of metal from the shrine. I know what it says, "Death in Battle" in the old language. He rubs his fingers over a cloak of fraying red. My grandmamma made him that when he was a boy. There were other scattered tools and trinkets that he played with, but nothing struck me as memorable.

"Vece, do you have a story about your brother?" Grandmamma asks him softly. He looks at her for a minute and then stares back at the shrine.

"No," he answers and leaves to his Axial's grave to his family. My eyes follow his strong stance. I never liked my uncle very much, but I can't say he's a bad leader. He tries, but his blood family is more important than out people. My eyes catch Lola. She's pressing her head against the stone and her fingers are gripping the bracelet she had given him. His necklace is untouched. I wish I had that necklace.

"Excuse my son. When it comes to emotions, he does not talk. The boys are still close after so long," Grandmamma says, her blind eyes watching her son.

"Isn't his brother dead though?" Kurogane asks. She looks to him and smiles.

"He is, but like all of us, he is here. I see him now. He follows his brother and stand by him. Many souls are leaving since no one remembers them anymore, but those that are remembered are still here to listen to the mourning. They enjoy the stories and music," She says. Kurogane looks to me with a crazy look. I shake my head at him.

"During these three days, the spirits make the journey from the City of the Wind to dance, sing, and listen to their loved ones who still remember. Few can see them, and even fewer can hear them speak still. It's said that in the old city, everyone used to be able to hear and see the spirits," I explains. He nodded his head. There are a few moments of silence.

"They come to see their families most of all. Parents love to see their children grow, watch them as they thrive and speak. I couldn't always see them like I can now. When my eyes started to die, I saw them as shadows. Now, I can see them as clear as day. They like to hang around their own families, but once in a while they wander away to see their friends. It isn't hard to see where loyalties lay after their deaths. I see it even now with my husband and my son and my daughter. They are all separate, but also together," She says and looks to me, "I see your mother looking over your shoulder, I see your brother you from his place by his wife. She doesn't see or feel him. You don't either, but you believe child that you do not belong here anymore. You will always be a part of us through your blood. Do not forget that when I come to lead you away." I shudder.

"Little mouse, little mouse, come out and play," I hear Benji say loudly. The music cuts off and people breathe lightly. No one moves or speaks. I can't move, I'm in plain sight of the entrance.

"Syaoran, Sakura, hide," I hush quietly to them. They're still out of view. He knows I'm here at least. I can't run. I look to Kurogane. He shakes his head at me. I bite my lip. He won't leave me. I wish he would.

"There you are little mouse. Are you going to run again, or are we going to play for once? I'm tired of running in case you cared. If you run, I can always bring you back," He asks. I look to him. He's still dressed like before. Does anyone here know I'm his "mouse"? I doubt it. My hands shake and ice flushes through me. I need to think about what to do. Kurogane puts a hand on his sword and I shake his head at him. There're too many people and this is sacred land to us. No one can die here. It would be disrespectful.

"Where are the rest?" Benji asks as I get to my feet. I stand silent. His smile dampens a little. "Come out, come out," He starts and then roughly grabbed the closest person near him. I breath in sharply; It's Ira. "Before I kill her," He finishes and holds her up high by her hair. He held her by the hair and made her next as exposed as possible. A guard came up from behind him and points his blade to her throat. She can't die.

"Don't," I whisper, my voice not able to be any louder because of my fear. He smiles brightly and tilts his head again at me. Kurogane rises up next to me, Fai came forward from the crowd with Mokona in his arms, and Syaoran and Sakura stand up behind me.

"Good. Now get them," He says and tosses Ira against Hiro's shrine. Everything spills off and I watch my drawing float on the air. Guards come out from the darkness with ropes and chains. Nero is shielding his mind from me for the first time in a long time, but I guess it's because he knows how much pain I would be in from all this. I'm glad. I can't have him dying over me.

I don't resist and neither do the others. My legs are wrapped in chains as well as my arms. The others are bound similarly along with their weapons being thrown on the ground. Two cages were rattled into the light, and soon the guards were pushing us toward them. I heard the sounds of snarling and a flash of grey crash into Benjamin.

No…

He's unaffected of course. He swings his hammer and slams it into the wall the surrounds the shrine yard. I clench my teeth together as tears fall through. It's Nero. I shout to Nero through my mind but he's not responding. Benji throws him into one of the cages and I bite back my cries.

"Oh, little mousey is upset that I hurt her pet. I wish I was sorry," He says and laughs loudly. I look to the ground as the tears dripped off my checks and onto the ground. I didn't get a chance to look back up. Something hard and fast crashed over the back of my head and sent me into unconsciousness.


	27. A Nightmare Defeated

**Nakietra**

I moan and twist around. My head is pounding painfully. I press a hand to the back of it and feel metal under me. I open my eyes and look to the side. Bars.

I remember being wrapped in chains but not anymore. I struggle into a sitting position and tug on the bars. They're newly forged and strong. There's no way I'm going to be able to break out of this. I touch my hip and feel my knife. I still might be able to escape.

Across the cavern from me are the others. They aren't in chains either and are still out. Nero isn't here anymore. I clench the bars tightly. I remember him being thrown into a cage so where is he. His mind is still shielded from me.

I look around. There are holes in the ceiling letting in parts of light and the ceiling is circular and wide. I know this place. I look at the ripples along the walls and examine the star-like lights that are decorating the ground. I remember the light being stronger so it must be morning. There's an exit but there's a large rock over it.

Hiro used to take me here when I was little I remember. He cut the stars on the ceiling and taught me to climb here over rocks that were here. They were all against the sides now but they were still here. My ears prick up as I hear the scrapping of rock. I clench the hilt of my knife and look to the exit.

It's Benji coming through. He closes it being him and approaches me with a sickening smile on his face. His attention is fully on me. The rock wasn't closed all the way and I see a full corner free. I might be able to squeeze through there if I had the time. I know Benji won't give me that time though if I did manage to escape this cage.

He strolled around the room, around me at least, until he was right next to the cage. He looked stronger than I remember, much stronger. I stared up at him defiantly. I'm going to die no matter what I do, but I don't want to die looking scared. I see why no one took my knife away

"Little mousey's awake I see. Are you ready to play?" He asks with his insane smile. I look past him at my unconscious group. Do I really have a choice here? If I say no then he'll them first. That isn't an option.

"Yes," I answer, my voice sounding like a mouse's. Someone was stirring in the other cage. He pulled cage door off and abandoned it to the side before darting a hand forward to grab me. I leapt out of his reach and stabbed my knife into his hand. It did nothing. He laughed and grabbed my arm.

"A mouse can't hurt the lion. You should know that," He said and quickly pulled me out and threw me across the room. I hit the ground with a series of rolls and flips but it all still hurt even though I tried to stop myself as safely as possible. When my vision stops spinning, I see that I was next to the other cage. I look inside and saw Kurogane just starting to sit up. He looked at me.

"I love you," I say quietly. He stares at me and purses his lips. I don't need him to say it back. "Get the Storm Ball from Mokona," I tell him and dart away as Benji runs to me.

"Start running mousey. This is a game for your life," He says and laughs as he takes one of the big rocks and throws it at me. I just barely dodge before I start running again. I need to hand on for just a little longer.

**Kurogane**

I push and shove everyone's unconscious bodies out of my way until I find Mokona. There was a red spot on the back of his head where he was knocked unconscious also but I still shake him. We don't have time to wait for him and everyone else to wake up normally.

"Wake up," I say loudly through gritted teeth. He doesn't even react. I set him down and look to Nakietra.

She's terrified, much more than she was the last time we saw this man. She's just barely missing his lightning attacks and stumbles every time he throws a rock close to her. She won't be able to keep this up long, not when she doesn't even think she's going to live through this. I drop Mokona and turn to Syaoran. I need to wake someone else up. We need a plan before she dies.

"What?" He asked groggily.

"Wake Mokona up," I bark and drop the pork bun into his lap. I shake Fai and get him awake. I don't touch the princess. She doesn't need to be awake to see Nakietra this terrified. I don't even want Fai to see her this scared but we need all three of us to think of a plan out of here.

I watch Nakietra as we discuss what to do. I was right, her body is rapidly giving out from the stress of it all. I pull on the bars. They're sturdy and I probably won't be able to bend them. Mokona hands me the storm ball and I stare into it. We need to get it to her somehow. I hand it to Fai and pull on the bars. We need to try something at least.

"How do we get it to her?" Fai asks seriously. I rest my arms. They aren't budging at all. This is only going to tire me out. It's not worth it. I hear rocks scrapping together and look toward the exit. I see a black nose poke through the revealed corner and then a grey body follows. It's Nero. He shakes himself up and then looks back as another wolf follows. This one is red and a little smaller. The two touch noses and run off into the fight.

I watch them nip Benji's ankles and force his attention away from Nakietra. More wolves come from the hole and join in the distraction. I find Nakietra. She slumped against the far wall, defeated looking and breathing heavy. Benji brushes the wolves away and reaches toward her. I clutch the bars. A second before his giant looking hand grabs her, Nero and the red wolf are attacking the hand and stopping him. Benji shrieks and yells as he tries to unclasp them.

Nakietra looks up but doesn't move. She looks to me. I take the ball from Fai and hold it up. She smiles slightly and then looks to Benji with fear. The wolves are shaken off to opposite sides of the room and then it's just her, defenseless.

Wolves attack Benji from all over, aiming for every available piece of skin they can. He pulls them off one by one but it makes little difference against the ones they take their place. Nakietra stares at them but still doesn't more. Nero comes beside her and she pulls herself onto his back before he runs her over. There are splotches of blood following them but I can't tell who they're coming from.

Nero stopped beside me and keeps his head trained on Benji. Nakietra drags her head up and looks at me. There's blood smeared on the edges of her lips. I clench my teeth as she smiles weakly. I know she was prepared to die here if that was possible, I could just see it in her eyes when we came here.

"The storm glass," She asks in a raspy voice. She is prepared to die here I remind myself as I fit the glass through the bars.

"Are you okay?" Fai asks and tries to reach for her. She takes the glass and doesn't answer as we lock eyes. She's dying. She needs to take her medicine and rest but we don't have time for that. I remind myself that she came here prepared to die.

"Be careful," I say. She nods her head as Nero speeds away. I take a deep breath as Benji sees her and yells in rage as he swipes toward her and Nero. He barely misses. I clench my hands as I see her fearful face. I can't let her ride to her death. It's not right.

"Let's try to pull these bars," I say and take one with both hands. We just need more than my strength to pull them out. Fai and Syaoran took the other one and we all pulled our own ways. I continued to watch the fight as the bars slowly come apart this time.

Nero slows down near the far wall. Nakietra climbs off and kisses his head. He looks up at her before running into battle. She tucks the ball into her dress and starts climbing the slanted wall. My eyes widened as I watch her slowly climb until she was hanging completely upside down. I knew she was a good climber but I've never seen anyone be able to do that while their body was in such poor condition. She's trying to kill herself.

She let her feet first when she reached the area right above Benji. She let go and landed with her feet pressed against his chest. She grabbed his shirt with both hands and smashed the glass into his face. Smoke exploded from the ball and was inhaled into his body. Benji swiped her into the ground and then froze. Every wolf backed away to the edges of the cavern but Nakietra didn't more at all. Nero and four other wolves darted in to pull her way as Benji's body swelled twice its size.

The bars were pulled far enough apart for us to get through then. I was about to go through when two nasty looking wolves stepped in front and growled at me. I settled down and watched. Something dangerous was about to happen. His body stopped swelling then. His skin bubbled and quivered. He started screeching a sound no person should ever make. His body started swelling again until the skin started ripping and tearing. His blood was black as it dripped onto the ground.

His chest burst open then and wind broke out, swirling around the room hazardly until it dispensed. Benji's body was smaller than it was as it fell forward with a hole going completely through his chest. The wolves in front of the cage stepped back and I darted through. The only thought running through my head was that Nakietra couldn't die here, not yet.


	28. Rats with Hate

Men were arriving from the village as soon as Benji fell to the ground dead. Two wolves, both old with their greying black fur, had brought them here to push the rock away. When the men arrived, none of them could speak of what they saw for a full minute at least. Benjamin, their worst nightmare and ruler was now dead thanks to that mysterious group that came.

None of them noticed their true hero as she lay dying in a corner surrounded by wolves. They only saw something was wrong when a man, whom some knew as Kurogane at this point, rushed past them with the girl, one of their sisters from another tribe it seemed like sometimes, in his arms and not moving.

Nakietra was worse than usual. She had been prepared to die and she had come very close. Blood poured from her mouth and nose for hours until she looked pale and weak from it all and her breathing continued to be bad even after Fai did everything he knew he could do for her. That was when the grandmother pushed him aside and brought in her own healing teas and herbs; herbs that smelled calming and bitter just like the herb Nakietra used on a daily basis.

Her hood was kept up and her face shielded anytime anyone entered the room. Vece didn't ask and neither did his wife or children as his request. He had enough to worry about now that the throne and palace were empty and no one person had to live in fear of being hanged. Not even Toya for his abandonment of his royal seat on the council that he inherited from his father.

Although the group had slept on the floor their time there, the oldest son of Vece gave up his mat to Nakietra. The group thanked him as warmly as they could with the threat of their friend's death leaning over their heads.

Most importantly, no one ever questioned Kurogane. Every mixture the grandmother used, he knew what it was used for if not the name for it. Every person that came in, even one of the group, he slowly reminded everyone that Nakietra still needed to be called Mariah. He was the one that sat by her day and night and made sure the family didn't get to close to her.

Benjamin's body was dragged from the cave and hung on display just like he had for their people. Vece and his men let it sit for two days and then they burned it while it hung there. This was the most disrespectful thing to do to a body in their culture. Even burry a body is better than burning it this long after death and also in such an undignified position.

Smalls of burning flesh raided the sky, but many adults chose to stand outside their houses and watch the burning. Some smiled and rejoiced, others sat solemnly and watched the smoke curl into clouds in the sky. Everyone though was relieved that they didn't have to burn any more of their dead anytime soon because of Benjamin.

The palace was regained by force from the few white soldiers and families that still lived there. All of surrendered and left to join the white city a few miles away that was still run by this kingdom. Some talked of revolt but no one listened for now.

A vote was taken. Every man and woman was asked to vote on a king: Vece or Toya. Although Vece was always a good leader, many people in the city remembered what he did to their families in order to spare his own. Although they couldn't blame him, they also didn't want him as a leader. Toya won by a longshot.

His first act was that the armory was to be opened and those who wanted to be soldiers could be as long as they proved to be experienced enough. Vece and his men had real swords and armor for the first time in their lives and wore it as they pledged their allegiance to their new king and became the first paid army of black soldiers.

The giant stores of food in the palace were raided then and another huge feast was held. Tables were dragged out of houses and made a huge line through the main street that lead up to the palace. Women prepared food and placed the dishes everywhere and in front of those dishes people sat and waited until the food was given out and passed around. No one went hungry, not even the saviors. Kurogane watched the others have fun from the window, answering every question Nakietra asked as she lay in bed unable to move at all and unable to feel some parts of her body from the blood loss.

The village celebrated with parties and dancing for another night after that as well and still Kurogane answered Nakietra's questions as the others danced and enjoyed the festivities. . On the third day, Toya put his foot down. He employed people of all ages and genders to clean the palace up as it was still stained with old blood from the massacre. He took even more people from the crowds and told them to take the most worn out of houses and to take them apart in order to make them bigger with the palace stores of resources that no one has ever touched. He said that there should at least be one room for every two people that lived in the house and every woman that wanted cloth to make clothes and blankets could take as much as they wanted as long as it wasn't wasted.

More jobs were handed out, everything from little to big ones. Any man, woman, and child who wanted to work was allowed to. Toya offered to teach children how to read and write as well as men and women. All they needed to do was earn their keep: four hours of work a day at least. In return, there were no taxes on anything as well food for those that needed it. Women took over the field work while men built houses and went to work in the distant quarries and forests in order to bring back better materials for the houses. Children delivered messages as well as brought the workers in the field clean water and food when needed. Everyone was happy. There may have been no money for now, but there was food and a bed to sleep in at night as the future became more and more promising.

The white city in North that the old king controlled had nothing but complaints as each new law was passed. Men raised their swords and tried to declare war. Every one of them stepped down when they saw that they were horribly outnumbered. Some left their rich homes, others stayed and slowly learned to adapt to working for four hours a day or losing their rich homes to those who deserved it more.

The hammer Benjamin had used was recovered and kept by Toya for safety purposes at the moment. No one challenged the fact, yet, at least. Toya promised to dispose of it, but it was still questionable how it could be destroyed and whether it should be in the first place in case the white families that left came back with reinforcements.

Nakietra was awake on and off through the whole thing. When she was asleep, the nightmares were just as bad as before but more frequent and involved less movement than the past ones had. Fai worried over her, but the grandmother, the only one in Vece's family that Nakietra allowed in the room, only shook her head at him. The grandmother always spoke in hopeful tones, "Her spirit isn't going to leave" or "she'll wake up when the time is right".

The right time came at the end of the sixth day.

**Nakietra**

I crush my eyes together and finally push myself out of another nightmare. I see the cracked ceiling above me and I know I haven't moved. Its night now I can tell because there are candles lit around the window sill. I close my eyes. I remember me and Hiro used to fill this room with candles when I was little because I hated the dark. My aunt always scolded me then for wasting our precious candles.

"I knew you wouldn't leave, Nakia," I hear my grandmother say. I turn my head and open my eyes. She's sitting next to my mat on the floor, smiling. I swallow hard. I've been waiting for the chance to talk to her ever since I knew that she knew who I was.

"Grandmama," I whisper and purse my lips together so I don't cry. She's never been in here when I'm awake. Kurogane tells me she's been here though and he's seen me semiconscious. I don't remember any of it. I bring a hand up and take her hand even though it causes me physical pain. It's taking longer for my body to recover from this one. It must be a sign that things are going to get worse from her on out.

"Nake's awake! Nake's-" Mokona exclaims before he's cut off. I glance over my grandmother and smile. Kurogane has a firm hand around Mokona's mouth.

"Shh," He says loudly and puts the rabbit down. Mokona covers his own mouth and starts walking over to me. Kurogane smiles softly. I love seeing him smile.

"They are all gone, do not worry," She says and waves him off like a silly child. I suppress my laughter in an equally suppressed smile. Laughing would hurt worse than anything else at the moment.

"How do you feel?" Syaoran asks, coming into view. His hair is stuck up at odd angles and he looks very serious.

"Painful," I manage and stop smiling. He's been so worried about me these past few days I hear. I haven't seen him yet but Kurogane told me he's been worried.

"Yet you are still happy," Grandmamma says with a toothless grin. I don't smile. Should I be happy? Nero told me Benjamin is dead and also how the village celebrates that fact. I should be happy he's finally gone, the object of my nightmare…and I actually am. There's a sort of emotional sickness of sadness and dread that keeps washing through me though every time I think that though. Is it right to feel happy that someone else is dead?

"Can you move?" Mokona asks and hops on my stomach. My face grimaces in small pain, but I manage to smile at him. I raise my other hand and pat him between the ears. Mokona is annoying but he's also cute sometimes I guess.

"You feel it just as I do," Grandmamma says. I look to her and see her shake her head at the window.

"What is it?" I ask and look up to her. This feeling just isn't in my head, it's all around me I guess.

"You saw how they acted. Like rats; deceiving and heartless," She starts and swallows hard in emotional pain, "I grew up surrounded by war. Guards stole women away to the battlefield for pleasure, as well as young boys to become tools; soldiers. We fought back though. By the time I was ten, no one went out alone, and never at dark. Men fought and killed those guards that came, and women sometimes poured boiling water over their own faces just so the men would not want to take them. It was a different time, yes, but even then we stuck together. We were family. Now," He lips curl in disgust as a tear falls from each of her blind eyes, "they gave up their families with greed and fear, and didn't shed one tear in public for those that died innocent. I never saw wails of regrets from wives or mothers, not a single word of revolt from the men."

I nodded my head in agreement, but then remember she's completely blind. "This isn't home. When I saw them...I couldn't tell this was even home. I thought I was dreaming. I thought that I had the wrong place when I saw my people being sold out by each other," I say, my own lips curling into disgust.

"Rats, all of them. Vece is the worst. My own son is the king of these rats. He gave up fighting because he saw how useless he and his men were against Benjamin. He asked for peace, but he gave into death and sacrifice. He is not free of sin, but he is also better than any of the rest of them," She says to me.

"Grandmamma…why did they do that? How could they…just handover people like objects?" I ask still confused about the whole thing as she grips my hand as tightly as she can.

"Fear drives many people into holes. Your brother was the best at chasing away that fear, and then he was gone," She says and pauses, "You heard them talk; I know you asked and I know they told. I was raised to not speak of the dead outside of The Shrine Grounds, and defiantly not anything they may or may not have been done or had been. Especially family," She says in disgust. I close my eyes and feel so old suddenly. I feel like my time was a hundred years ago and I just happened to arrive outside of my time. What happened to tradition and morals when I was gone? It was like they never existed.

"Who was talking bad about who?" Fai asks slightly confused.

"Karis and Ira…" She hisses at him. Tears leak out of my eyes and roll down my checks. Guilt builds up in my chest and makes it hard to breathe now. I swallow my sobs because I know it's more painful for her than it is for me. "They can't let go of the things Nakia hand no control over, and I see it killed them inside. Not guilt, but hate," She brushes her thumb over my hand in calming swirls. "It killed you inside too, to hear those insults and to watch them cower in fear. I see it in the black spots on your spirit. While they are stained red with hate, you have stained yourself black with guilt." No one speaks.

"They are right," I say in a painful soft voice. I shut my eyes tightly and the images of Hiro and my cousin rush by. It was my own fault they died.

"No, they are wrong," She responds forcefully, "No one knew that someone would start a fire on the Doctor's house on that specific day, and there is nothing you could have done to save Hiro," She pauses and continues in a softer voice, "You are a child still, one who puts the weight of every problem on her own shoulders just as her brother did. You expect yourself to be able to run with everyone else along with that added weight. You do not to have room for guilt over events you could not control. If you had stepped in and tried to save your brother, then you would have died, and we would still be here cowering in fear like the rats we became. We knew no hope, we still wouldn't have known hope if you had not lived."

Her words soothe me slowly, just as they always have. The guilt is still there though. I feel the need to apologize to Ira…maybe even once more to my aunt. I wish I could still move so I could curl into a ball or run into the ruins to think like I used to. Even sitting up would cause extreme pain though. Grandmamma runs her fingers up to my hair and strokes my hair like she did all the times I was sick.

"You have felt your guilt and remorse, and I remember where it led you. If you let it led you there again, you will die…my Nakia, you need to live. You are destined to. This is a sign that you are meant to die," She says slowly as her light hands brush through my hair. Slowly I start calming down, understanding where she's going with this. "I remember Karina pushing you to the edge, and then waited for you to jump off yourself. You are one that considers jumped to end the pain. I would not let you jump, and neither would Hiro, or Toya, and I can see that not even these people here. They will not let you jump from guilt and pain because they know you They know that you don't really want to jump, but you see it as only one option."

"You slapped me across the face and dragged me out of bed," I remind her as I remember the last time I went down that path.

"I will do it again if you stray down that dark path," She said. I crush my eyes closed and watch the stars dance behind them. The dark path is always the easier one in life.

"Some of you get some stew from the kitchen. Karina has no time to attend to an old woman anymore it seems. Bring a bowl for my granddaughter too," She commands. Three pairs of feet leave promptly. I open my eyes and waited for my eyes to refocus. Kurogane takes Syaoran's spot and sits against the wall. His eyes are trained on me. I take a deep breath and summon up all my internal tolerance and try to drag my other hand up. I have it just over my body and then I sigh in pain and give up. I can't believe how weak I still am.

"You force yourself too much. Boy, come here and take this hand," She says. Slowly she moves back by my head and I watch Kurogane come over. I close my eyes as he takes mine. I like his hands.

"Oh! Nakie and Kuro-po-" Mokona starts.

"Come here," Grandmama says sharply and snatches the rabbit off of me. I forgot he was there. She puts a delicate hand across his mouth and he shuts up as she whispers into one of his ears. Kurogane squeezes my hand and I smile. I open my eyes and look to his face. He smiles back. I've lived a good life and I completed one thing no one else with this death sentence could ever do: I fell in love.

"Your spirits fit well. It is nice to know my granddaughter won't be alone," Grandmamma says softly. Footsteps are heard and he releases my hand. "You keep this quiet now," She tells Mokona. I look back and watch her force him to stare into her eyes. He falls asleep and she set him down next to me before retaking my hand as Kurogane moves back to his original position.

It was another two days of rest before the group could even think about moving. Nakietra slowly recovered, moving a little more and more everyday as the pain faded just a little more. Family stories were shared by both the grandmother as the hours turned longer and longer each day as the group members were given less and less to do with each passing day. There were times when Nakietra and her grandmother would lapse into a language even Mokona couldn't decipher and then it would slow back into English. As life turned back to normal in the village, the group heard the language more and more.

Nakietra sent a request for the hammer to Toya. Vece delivered it the next day and didn't question it at all. Mokona stored it away but Nakietra was still in a certain mood that no one could seem to understand or lift. The grandmother understood it all though even as she readied herself to leave on a gloomy morning.

Everyone was already waiting outside by the fountain. Most people went along with their daily work, but those who worked in town stood by and watched as the heroes were leaving. The older children by the fountain stopped washing clothes and watched as Nakietra walked out the door and look back.

She tried to memorize the house because even though there were bad memories here, there were some nice ones of her and Hiro that she hoped she wouldn't forget before she died. She looked forward and looked at each of her cousins as they stood lined up between her aunt and uncle. Her grandmother was sitting with her back pressed against the fountain, her blind eyes turned toward the sky and in front of her was a small group of young girls that she was teaching the old songs to. Nakietra watched them for a minute before turning to be with her group that was already ready. She knew she would never forget the old songs. She could even forget Toya but never forget the old songs that were not only burned into her mind but also breed into her blood.

"An old woman does not get a goodbye I see," Dera says loudly and smiles.

**Nakietra**

I look back at my grandmother sadly. I know she doesn't have much longer to live, but she is the hardest to leave behind. I'll see her sooner than anyone else though in The City of Wind if I ever find it.

"Goodbye _Oyira_," I answer simply, using the term for grandmother in the old language. It's a common title for an old woman. I turn back to my group. Syaoran and Sakura stop their chatting and watch me with smiles. Fai, of course, is also smiling with his hand behind his head. Mokona perches on his head while he silently sings parts of the old songs with his own words thrown in. Kurogane is even smiling a little as he leans back against one of the houses. Nero is on the ground next to him. He kept his mind blocked from me the whole time we were here, it's still blocked to me. Maybe because he knew that I wanted him to stay here and he wanted to make the decision for himself whether to go or stay.

"You will fly high and live long _Shina_," She tells me. My smile turns to confusion. The flying high part meant I would succeed and be happy, which I could see. I will not live long though and she knows that. I'm at step three and also well into it because of what I did. I need to take much more powerful medicine twice a day now.

"Thank you _Oyira_," I say ad continue on. I saw Ira come from by the side of a house and I divert my eyes. I smile as I see Toya following Ira. I hide my laugh at his royal blue robes. He looks ridiculous. There are guards on either side of him. Vece and Karina take their children and present them in front of my group as they say their goodbyes. I stop by my group as Vece and Karina turn to speak to me.

"We want to thank you for saving our people, and we want you to know that there is a home here for you," Vece says with a small smile. Its rarest thing ever for him, but it make myself smile myself.

"Thank you, but I have other places to go," I respond. My aunt swallows hard and looks at me seriously.

"You know our customs and our songs. You must come from a part of our people. Could you lead to your home?" She asks. I frown and shake my head.

"No. The way is lost to me. I lived there too long ago to remember where it is," I says and divert my eyes. She narrows her eyes I see when I glance up. Vece grabs her arm and leads her to the side, away from me. Toya approaches me with a smile. I lift my head up and smile.

"You didn't think I'd let you leave without a goodbye, did you?" He asks with a healthy smile. I smirk and shake my head.

"I don't know. Being king is sort of a big dead here," I respond jokingly even though I never actually thought about why he didn't come to see me.

"I always have time for you my black rabbit," He whispers and pauses, "I want you to stay, but know you're always welcome back here, even if you never come back," he adds.

"I know. Unlike you, I earned my title," I continue to joke.

"Oh really? I think I can still catch you," He responds and straightens up to look more superior.

"You couldn't catch me before, you can't catch me now," I respond even though I know it's a lie. He gives a small laugh. Quiet surrounds us except for whispers and the shuffling of feet.

"It's time for us to go. We'll make sure the hammer is taken care of the right way this time," I say trying to be serious. He nods his head, his smile fading.

"I know you will," He responds. He frowns and opens his mouth but my hood is pulled back before I he can say anything. I reach back and see Ira. I freeze because I know there's nothing I can do to stop this.

"It's you!" Lola exclaims horrified as she backs away. She takes a step forward then as rage focuses her face and pulls me close to her. "You ran away and then came back after everything you did! You left them! You left Hiro! You killed him!" She yells before slapping me across the face. I never thought she was so strong, but I actually stumbled to the ground. Maybe it's just because I'm so weak right now though. Tears well up in my eyes, not from the slap but from the truth. I had left them. I left Hiro to die.

"Ira! Stop!" Grandmamma yells. I've never heard her sound so angry. Ira kicks me and I block with my arms before he turns to grandmamma. I gasp in a silent scream. It feels like she just broke the bones in my arms but I know that can't be possible. Kurogane grabs me under my arms and pulls me back.

"Don't you understand what she did! She has always let Hiro protect her and when it came time to protect him she left like a rat!" Ira yells. I step away from Kurogane and clench my arms. I need to deal with this.

"It's you who doesn't understand, Ira! None of you do!" Grandmamma yells back. I look up at her through shadowed eyes. "All of you are rats! Even now, you are letting the innocent be punished after Benjamin is gone! It is not a white man hurting the innocent, it is ourselves hurting our families."

Everyone around was silent. I glance around and see everyone looking at the ground ashamed. Ira bristles. "She ran away! Everyone died because she did nothing! We all know Benjamin wanted her in the first place and instead of letting him have her she hid behind everyone else just like she always has!" She yells, tears streaming down her cheeks. Guilt bricks up inside my body. I always hid from Benji.

"She came back with helped though, while you all kept running. My granddaughter saved us twice, and yet you all still insult her. You expected her to fight and die for the dead, while you sell your people to everyone else. Tell me, did any of you try to fight back. No. You all pushed everyone you loved away to their deaths, and abandoned those who asked for help. This isn't home, this is a rat hole," Grandmama yells. Toya walks over and stands beside her. He helps her up to her feet and then lowers her down to sit on the edge of the fountain.

"I agree," He says then very strongly.

"Mother, you don't know what you're saying. Just-" Vece starts but grandmamma cuts him off. I smile.

"No. You are the one who doesn't know anything. I have been around longer than any of you. I was here when the war started, and I had two brave sons when the last corrupted king died. Now, one is dead just like his father. The other is a king of rats," She snarls to him. "You think I know nothing? Tell me son, what do you actually know that you think I don't?" I glance to my uncle. He look to his mother in shock. The guilt is being pulled away from me.

"I'll tell you what we know," My aunt says strongly, "She causes the death of everyone around her. Nothing but misery and misfortune have hit us since she was born." Grandmamma stares at her with frosty eyes.

"Are you saying that the thousands of our men that died in battle and hundreds of babies that died from sickness were less than the few who have died since the war ended?" She asks almost innocently. My aunt is stunned.

"You do not think, you blame. Nakietra apologized hundreds of times after your daughter died in the fire, and even tried to kill herself. Still, you talk ill of her and even desecrated her name. Don't think I didn't hear what you have said," She says strongly. Cold enters me again as well as some anger. Grandmamma turns to Ira. "You are just like her. You blame a child for the deaths of adults. You expect her to fight and not think like you. Her thinking saved us, and yet I hear you continue to wail and scream about how your sister killed your husband. I will not hear of it anymore!" She looks to me with her blind eyes and her face softens. "Speak," She commands. I look up strongly and swallow hard. I know what to say.

"This place used to be home, that's why I gave everything to save it," I start and then shake my head no, "I don't know what I was thinking, because this can't be my home. I grew up knowing that no one was ever forgotten, even the dead, and no was mistreated without a cause…You people threw your families away and then blame me for their deaths. I heard everything you people said about me. Catherine sent me away so I could save everyone, but now I see none of you deserved it," I finish. Toya takes a step on the rim of the fountain as everyone starts shouting arguments at me. I feel my crowd around me to stop people from tearing me apart.

"Quiet!" He yells, and like subjects they obey. "I agree with both of them. Somewhere along the way, everyone lost their morals. Respected elders," He gestures down to my grandmother, "have been shunned and disregarded. Children," He gestures to me, "have been burden and blamed for everything. And adults hide," He then gestures to everyone else. "I propose a new decree: anyone considered an elder is allowed to live in the palace, as an adviser of mine. While none of you may respect their wisdom anymore, I still believe that the old ways can be the best," He finishes and jumps down. I smile.

"I thank you Toya, and I will take you up on that offer. I can't stand to live under the roof of my clueless son no more," I hear grandmamma say. Toya smiles slightly and comes to stand right in front of me.

"You're a good king already," I manage as I shake myself from the shock of everyone actually being quiet.

"I try," He says and gives me a quick hug. His robes smell like him and I tried to memorize the scent, knowing I will never see him again. "Take care of yourself," he says after he pulls away.

"I'll try," I look to my group, "I have many people to help me now." I smiles.

"Goodbye," He manages as he clenches his teeth so he won't cry. I look away and move to my group. I can't watch him struggle not to cry.

"I thought you said there never were goodbyes," I joke weakly and look back over him.

"This calls for one," he says and smiles sadly.

"Goodbye then. Don't…don't let Hiro be forgotten," I manage.

"I wouldn't dream of it," He says and steps back to my grandmamma. She passes by him and comes to me. She holds a gold chain up to me and then presses it into my hand.

"Hiro said you lost yours to the witch. He wants you to have his," She says. I hold up hand and hold up the chains. It's the twin to my own. I scrunch my eyes closed as tears come forward and I clutch it to my chest.

"You will fly high remember, never forget that," She says and stumbles away to Toya. I don't say anymore goodbyes. I join my circle of friends.

"Let's go Mokona," I say and watch Toya until he disappears.


End file.
